God's Gambit
by R.A. McCaffrey
Summary: Lelouch drastically changes his views on what really matters when he confronts his parents in C's World when they try to destroy God. This comes into play as when he uses Geass on the Collective Unconscious and he is charged with saving 'Tomorrow'. Lelouch is the main Character but it is not Lelouch-centric
1. Intro

AHEM… I do not in anyway shape or form own any part of the Code Geass series.

Prologue

Standing here on the shrine-like platform within the Thought Elevator, I haven't the faintest clue what it's really name is; it is just a platform in the middle of an endless expanse of clouds with a large planet looming overhead. It has power though, more power than any man could ever dream of, locked within its vast empty space.

Before me stands Emperor Charles Zi Britannia, in a long, purple, button-up coat, and his consort, Marianne Vi Britannia, in a rather plain, light brown dress. The fools think that they can call themselves my mother and father, even after everything they did. After abandoning Nunnally and me, casting us out, denouncing us, leaving us in Japan during the invasion they planned and executed. Worst of all they feel like they could speak to him as if I was still their loving child. It had been eight long years since I've seen that man as my father, and to see my mother happy, smiling, a willing collaborator in the twisted schemes of that man makes me sick.

I am Lelouch Vi Britannia, their son by birth, but now I know how much more I truly am. I am Lelouch Lamperouge; the older brother of Nunnally and Rolo Lamperouge, Zero of the people, a Geass user, a user and betrayer of friends, a man that has forged himself in so very many mistakes. Here and now, if I can do nothing else, I will destroy them and all that they stand for.

I faintly hear someone approaching from out of the misty clouds behind me. Whirling around, I find myself facing both C.C. and Suzaku as they walk slowly towards me. The frustration and anger that had been welling up inside of me at my parents, gladly used this new outlet to vent as I spit, "So, I take it you have recovered your memories, C.C., all according to the plan?" I feel a painful pang of remorse as she uncharacteristically bows her head at my biting remark.

Charles continued his monologuing about how everything in 'The Plan' was going smoothly, while at the same time the details of the plan finally came out. I listen absentmindedly as I watch the two new arrivals intently to find out why they specifically they were there, figuring it would not be hard, I was probably the person that knows both of them best. C.C. seemed withdrawn, but unlike when she lost her memory and left me alone in this hell we had created, it was not because she was afraid but more like she was unsure of what she was doing.

Though I can clearly see the confusion on Suzaku's face, there is a spark of defiance in his eyes. I can only hope that my former friend would be willing to put aside our mutual hate for each other to stop this travesty. Neither Nunnally and Euphemia, the two people we fight for, my precious sisters, would have wanted a world like my parents dreamed of.

Suzaku's voice, full of anger and frustration. drew me from the painful memories, "What are you doing here your Majesty?"

"I am building a new world. A world that Nunnally and Euphemia would be proud of. And now that we are all assembled. we can commence. C.C. I will fulfill my part when we are done here." Charles' voice sounds like an echo as it booms out over the vacant space of C's world.

I watch as Charles lifts his hand. There on his palm was the mark of Geass like the one upon C.C. forehead, and it glowed as bright as a hadron cannon. Before I could do anything, the mark upon C.C.'s brow began to emit a glow just as powerful as the one upon Charles' palm until everything was lit with a eerie, violet glow.

As soon as my eyes began to adjust to the light, it vanished. Looking around franticly, I can see the clouds and sky around us falling like shards of glass from a shattered mirror, leaving behind a layer of gears and pistons; machines like the inside of a knightmare. I see it then, there behind my parents is a vile-looking cord going up to the planet in the sky that they call god.

I can vaguely hear Marianne whisper in an awed voice "The Sword of Akasha is slaying god…" as her husband walks forward to join his mark with C.C.'s.

I understand, it all makes sense now, they called that planet god, not for the first time, but this time put in perspective. God in C's world is the collective unconscious of mankind, and if one were to destroy that it would be the destruction of all drives, hopes and dreams of mankind. Something like that, it was pointless. To destroy hope and drive, what would that truly accomplish but to destroy the world's ability to move forward?

I hear Suzaku urgently whisper from behind me, "Lelouch what was your reason for wanting to control the world, was it truly for Nunnally sake?"

My lips quirk at the irony; what my parents wish to destroy was going to destroy them in turn. Taking one long stride forward to address the Emperor and his consort, I explain both to them and to Suzaku and C.C., "I have fought to protect everything I ever wanted to protect. Now it seems I must stand up again to protect something that this time no one else knows needs to be protected."

I smirk as Charles smiles condescendingly at me and inquires in a patronizing tone, "And that is Lelouch?"

"I reject you, and I reject everything you believe in. Why do people lie? It isn't only because they struggle against each other, it's also because there is something that their seeking. You now want a world without change. How stagnant, you could hardly call it life. The same as a world of memories, just a world that's closed and completed, that's a place I wouldn't want to live in."

As I finish speaking. I hear C.C. gasp. I can easily assume why, she herself was a creature of memories. She had long ago forgotten what it meant to feel, and only recently had she started to feel anything again. Now she realizes that this plan might strip everyone of that, even though it would grant her the death she foolishly wants. Though it is well hidden, she at least was not unfeeling enough to subject people to what she had felt.

I watch dispassionately as Marianne steps forward, and in that voice only a mother could use asks, "But Lelouch does that mean you are rejecting me?"

With a cold look I sneer at the pathetic woman that thinks she is the mother that raised me, "Do you agree with his majesty?"

I watch the woman I had once called mother as she talks on about how we all can be together again, even those that have died. I can feel my face harden as she confirms what I was most afraid of.

"As I expected you both believe that this world will be best for all but you forget that forcing your good intentions on other is no better than an evil act. Look at what you did to Nunnally and me; you abandoned your children in a foreign land." Lelouch roared.

"But we did that to protect you"

"Then why did you not call off the invasion?" I feel a jolt of pleasure as Marianne recoils as if struck, but I continue as if nothing happened, "The plan was such a priority for you both that it did not matter if we died you just said it, we all could be together again. All that is left to you is self serving excuses. You don't give a damn about anyone but yourselves and the future you want to experience!"

I glare at the monster when Charles cuts me off, "The Ragnarok connection is the future. The gentle existence Nunnally spoke of…"

Yelling to be heard over the odious man in front of me as visions of the F.R.E.J.A. destroying the Area 11 Consulate flash through my mind, "STOP IT! The world you want would only be kinder and gentler for you, the world my sister wanted was one where people were kind to strangers they had never met before."

I lean forward, hiding my face from view as Charles laughs a deep, almost evil laugh, "There is nothing you can do about it. The connection is struck. It is over."

Straightening up, I take the contact out of my eye as I glare into Charles' eyes. Charles just sneers at me, "Your Geass power has no effect on me or on anyone else here Lelouch, do not be a fool."

I smile, though I can not really put my finger on why, but I do as I reply, "Ah but there is someone else here Charles. This is C's world, and in C's world is the collective unconscious of all mankind, and as you always say not all men are created equal."

Charles pales and yells furiously, "You can not defeat god with the power of the king, boy, only the Ragnarok Connection can destroy God."

"I don't intend to destroy God. This is a request. Yes, now I know who I really am. God, Collective Unconscious! Please, don't stop the march of time! Because what I want is tomorrow." I can feel the power of geass rush through me as the birdlike symbol of geass appears in the overhead planet.

A mighty snap fills the air as the Sword of Akasha shakes violently, then a faint noise little more than a whisper on the wind seems to blow through my mind speaking in millions of different voices at once, "For the future to keep moving, we must go to the past."

And with that, all that remains in the world of C shatters like the clouds and sky earlier, leaving nothing but darkness and the sensation that I was being pulled away…

****G's G****

Looking down at the darkness. They could barely discern the spirit of Lelouch Lamperouge as it made it's way back in time as it was sent it. They knew that They had made the right decision.

Sending the young man back in time was the best option, for he was the only one that truly wished to change themselves for the better. The others present were either set in their ways and firmly believed they were in the right, or they felt despair and regret but had given up on trying to change their own paths, but this one he had a burning need to fix what he had done and what he had become that reached out to even Them.

He would stop his parents and free Them from this fear of destruction, of the destruction of human will. For while the foolish couple below did not understand; They were everyone that had died. They were every desire. They were every hope. They were the will of mankind, an entity that by its very nature had become mankind's God.

The boy would do everything he could to save Them, to do better than he had last time. They knew though that such change even when wanted would be hard for a single man; as such They had decided to send someone back with him to serve as a reminder. There were a few that wished to be sent, and They had been hard pressed to pick one.

They eventually decided the best choice, the one choice would go back remembering who they were at their death, everything after that moment until the choice offered to them to go back became apart of Them and not the youngling. The chosen would serve as a reminder to Lelouch Lamperouge of who he had become, and what exactly he stood to lose if he lost his way again.

As the second soul disappeared into the time before, They beamed brightly, knowing that if They still possessed a human form, They would be smiling at the display of loyalty their choice had shown in their determination to help Lelouch Lamperouge.

*****G'sG*****

Lelouch realized he was moving, it felt like Suzaku was dragging him down that hallway towards Charles all that time ago… He couldn't see, couldn't move, and all he could hear was a faint whispering. He strained his ears, but he could not make out any words.

Then, all of a sudden, he felt his head hit something hard, and his eyes shot open. Quickly taking in his surroundings as he tried to blink away the pain in his skull, he realized he was not even close to being in the Thought Elevator anymore. He was in a the bay of a large truck filled with machinery that looked hauntingly familiar, but he had no idea where exactly the truck was.

Trying to shake off the pounding ache in his head, he stood up to look around. He stopped short upon hearing a door slide open behind him. He quickly jumped behind a large pod-like container, rationalizing that most militaries at this point wanted him dead either for being Zero or for being Lelouch Vi Britannia.

However, the voice that reached his ears made him freeze, "Can you enter the tunnel through the Ozibo route?"

It was Kallen's voice; there was no doubt in his mind. Not only that, that exact phrase was the first thing that he ever remembered hearing her say.

Shaking off the memory how her standing up to the rest of the Black Knights for him that swam unbidden to the front of his mind, he started to wonder if this was all some elaborate dream he had been sentenced to by his parents as punishment for defying them, if he had possibly failed in stopping them. No sooner had that thought crossed his mind than he again heard the chorus of voices from the deep recesses of his mind, "For a future, we must go to the past."

It sounded absurd, even to him a man that could bend anyone to his will, but if he had truly gone back in time, the possibilities of what he could do were endless. He could save Shirley, Rolo, innocent Nunnally, sweet Euphemia…

If he really had really come back in time… Then it hit him, and he looked around the truck frantically. There was Kallen getting into her old Glasgow, but he only had eyes for the canister he was hiding behind, the canister that should be hiding a wounded and tortured C.C. inside.

It was torture as he waited, watching Kallen jump out of the back of the truck to start fighting Jeremiah and the rest of the Blood Purists. He brushed off his worry for Kallen, knowing that she had come through fine last time.

Once she had sped off in her Glasgow, he immediately leapt from his hiding spot and got to work on the capsule. He had opened it easily last time, but then again, he had not even wanted to open it last time it had just opened before him and now getting a look at the complicated control panel that had to be the controls for the pod itself he could not help the annoyance that swelled up inside of him. In a fit of indignation, he punched the control panel then watched in shock as the capsule let lose a hiss and the dome pulled back, revealing C.C..

As his witch spilled out onto the floor, everything between them flashed through his mind as he sat down and pulled her onto his lap. She had been his one and only confidant for the last few months, the one that helped him harden his heart so that he could accomplish his mission.

Then she had disappeared, lost within her own mind, and try as he might he had not been able to help her. Bitter rage had filled him at his own predicament, rage that he then unleashed on her only moments before in the thought elevator. While tenderly caressing her cheek with one hand, he used the other to undo the bonds on her arms.

Now he realized how foolish he'd been to lash out at her. He ran his fingers through her hair as he pondered all he had to lose, his friends, his family, and, worst of all, himself. If this was true, he was going to fix everything this time; he would never let himself become like his father again.

As the interior of the truck got darker, he realized that they must have started their underground driving. Last time after they crashed they had been found by Suzaku, and, though he held out hope that Suzaku had no more memory of events then Kallen did, Suzaku had been there with him in the Thought Elevator, and thus there was a possibility that he would remember and that was more of a danger.

No, there was too many things he knew now that changed the potential of every decision he made in the beginning of the Black Rebellion.

He gave C.C.'s face one last look before gently placing her on the floor of the truck. Getting up, he started to look for anything he could find, anything that would help him. He remembered that last time he took a communicator from the truck and knew that he would probably have to do that again, but for now, he was looking for anything helpful that he had missed last time.

It did not take him long to find the radio. He couldn't help but notice, however, that while there was a lot of machinery in the truck, most of it was useless, or he had no idea what it was. What he did find was a locker. Of course, it was locked because, as he thought, 'Well, what else would it be?' Scavenging through the loose machinery had earned him a quarter inch thick metal plate from what he guessed was a Burai's arm; he figured it would work fine as a crowbar.

The locker broke open in the screech of metal grinding on metal. He chided himself for both his lack of upper body strength making it take so long and for forgetting his physics. After putting all that force on the wedge, when the locker finally opened, he fell against the wall of the truck and then onto the ground with a heavy thud.

Scrambling to his feet, he listened to see if the driver noticed. When the truck kept its course and the door to the front of the truck never opened, he looked in the locker. Rather shocked at what he found, he started taking anything he thought might be useful. Neatly placed on two racks on the door were two pairs of handguns. On the shelf at the top of the locker were a few extra rounds for the handguns. Most importantly, just below the shelf was a uniform of the average Britannian soldier along with the standard field bag filled with the standard first aid supplies, a pair of frag grenades and a white smoke grenade.

Casting one look to make sure C.C. was still asleep, Lelouch shucked off his school clothes, folded them to put in the bag later, and started to dress as a Britannian Soldier while forming a plan in his mind. This was the one precise thing that was the cause of everything that had truly gone bad in Shinjuku. Suzaku. Suzaku had shown up and attacked him, stalling him until other soldiers had shown up. Those others had decided that he needed to die, and that caused even more problems. It had all culminated in the truck exploding, and he, himself, only just escaping. Suzaku has shown up in the Lancelot routed Oghi and the rest of the terrorists and almost captured him. No, he was already working out as many plans as possible for every possible situation for his encounter with Suzaku, whether his old friend remembered or not.

Putting one of the guns on his belt, he threw the other into his new bag on top of his clothes. Turning towards C.C. as he started pulling the helmet over his head, the entire truck jolted then stopped abruptly. As he flew forward, Lelouch cursed whoever let him redo this, thinking that they could have at least let him get the blasted helmet on his head first before they threw him headfirst into the ground again.

As he crashed in a heap next to C.C., he noted that one of the side doors had opened in the crash. Scooping up C.C. in his arms, he jumped out of the truck, ignoring the helmet on the truck floor, and looked around. Everything looked the same as last time, and he could not see Suzaku anywhere. Taking off in the same direction as the first time, he hoped that Suzaku was missing because he had not shown up yet, and not because he remembered everything that happened and had gone off to do something stupid like usual.


	2. A Better Start

I own nothing within the Code Geass Universe.

Chapter One: A Better Start

Suzaku felt like a cold fist had grabbed his heart. He had seen the truck crash and was about to call it in, but then he noticed a figure jumping out of the truck. He had started running to intercept the fleeing terrorist but had stopped short when they ran under a light.

Clearly visible, clutching the form of an unmoving girl in his arms, was Lelouch in a Britannian soldier's uniform. While he might not have seen Lelouch in many years, he was surprised at how easily he could identify his old friend.

A quick war waged in his mind before he blew off calling in the truck, as no doubt his superiors would order him to wait with it for further instruction. Instead, he took off after his former friend, intending to know what the hell had happened here. He raced after Lelouch down one of the side maintenance tunnels.

He felt a smile tugging at his lips as bittersweet memories of his childhood rose up in him, memories of him chasing after Lelouch, while his best friend ran away while pushing or carrying Nunnally. Lelouch had never gotten far before being caught, and it did not seem like his old friend was in any better shape now.

It was only when he was about to call out for Lelouch that he realized that he had a helmet on, and Lelouch would only see him as a Britannian soldier, a group of people that his old friend had to hide from. Then again, that was the last thing he knew; seeing Lelouch in a soldier's uniform had him mightily confused.

Popping his helmet off as he ran, he yelled, "Lelouch. Stop!"

He watched his old friend freeze before spinning around to face him, and he himself froze when he noticed that while Lelouch was still holding the girl in his arms, in one hand he held a handgun. For a second, he feared that his old friend was actually a part of this act of terrorism, a thought that not had crossed his mind since seeing him under the light.

Lelouch's face seemed to twist in a combination of both recognition and frustration. Suzaku felt exposed. He had just thought his friend had been caught up in something dangerous; now he was being held at gunpoint. It was one of those times where he remembered why he was working as an Honorary Britannian in the Britannian Army, so that some day the Japanese might have rights again. Right now though, he would settle for Honorary Britannians in the army being allowed guns.

After a couple of tense seconds, Lelouch lowered the gun. It wasn't much, and he assumed that it had more to do with his old friend carrying someone than anything else.

"Suzaku, is that you? What are you doing down here?"

He hoped that Lelouch was just caught up in all this; he would hate to be the one to have to turn in his friend after Lelouch had stayed hidden for so long. However, he needed to know before he made any decision one way or the other. "Lelouch what-"

Lelouch cut him off, just like his old friend always used to, "I need your help."

Suzaku couldn't help narrowing his eyes a little, "You really aren't in the position to ask for favors, Lelouch. This, this looks bad. I should be calling this in."

He could see relief pass his old friend's face before Lelouch spoke, "You have the wrong idea, Suzaku. The truck crashed into a construction site. A few of my classmates and I were trying to help the truck get out of debris when it started driving again. I know it sounds crazy but-"

He held up his hand; Lelouch looked far too flustered to be making everything he was saying up. He knew his friend though, and he could easily tell there were things he was not being told, such as why his friend was standing there in the uniform of a Britannian Soldier. "Lelouch, I'm going to have to have something that can confirm that."

He watched as Lelouch thought for a moment before turning slightly, "In the bag is everything I could find in the truck other than this uniform that might be useful. My uniform is in it. I found this uniform in the truck and thought that if this was going to be bad it might help me get out of here without being shot."

He cautiously approached and opened Lelouch's bag, inspecting its contents, "What are you going to do with that gun, Lelouch?"

"Don't know yet; I'll think of something."

He frowned in confusion, not knowing what he should do, when Lelouch interrupted his train of thought again, "Suzaku, I have to get out of here; if they find me, they will find Nunnally. I have to go."

Making a split-second decision, he nodded, "Head north from here to get out of the Ghetto; it's the closest way. I will go and report the truck in and inform them that someone was making their way south."

He could see the relief that spread across Lelouch's face in the form of a strained smile, "However, I want to meet with you soon; you have no need of those guns, Lelouch."

Lelouch nodded, his strained smile turning slowly into a grim frown, "Wait Suzaku… Don't go back to that truck."

Raising an eyebrow in confusion, "But Lelouch-"

Lelouch shook his head, "No Suzaku listen to me. There is an empty container in there that's open. I don't know what was in it, but if you call it in and they find that the container is empty it will not end well for you. So promise me that you will not go back to that truck, for Nunnally. She would be devastated if she never got to see you again."

Seeing the grim and worried expression on Lelouch's face saw him slowly nod his head, "Ok I'll go East and start exploring down those tunnels then…"

*****G'sG*****

She could feel it, the fluttering of a consciousness touching hers. There was no pain though; it had been a long time since she had felt a consciousness touching her and it had not been inflicting pain, not since that foolish son of Charles had found her and discovered she was immortal.

This one was persistent, though; it had not gone away, despite what must have been an eternity of doing nothing.

Cautiously, she let her mind reach out, and withdrew quickly. This person was familiar, even more so than Clovis had been. Yes, she had met this person before. For a moment she feared who this might be. Her fear was quickly washed away by the fact that they could not be much worse than what she had recently been through; even returning to Mao would be better than this, despite the fact that he would not fulfill his contract.

Pushing forward with her mind, she grasped onto the consciousness of the person near her. She could faintly tell that the person had been running with her in his arms before she probed his memories. Sighing that it probably hurt him a little, she looked through his memories.

As she watched him age, she remembered quickly who this was and why he felt familiar. He was Marianne's boy; she had seen the boy as he grew up at Aries Villa and had visited him once at Marianne's instance while he was in Japan before the invasion. She had thought, however, that he was lost in the invasion; clearly the boy was more resourceful than she had thought. Maybe he would be willing to do what his mother would not.

The boy definitely had the desire and drive to accept a contract, anything to protect his sister and destroy his father.

She watched with a smirk as the boy jumped into the truck to see if he could help anyone. The boy was interesting. He was cold and unemotional to most people he met, but the boy showed his true colors when he ran to help immediately upon seeing the accident. Yes, the boy did have promise.

She had almost completely expelled herself from the boy's mind when she noticed a discrepancy. She watched him never touch her, leaving her alone after the capsule released her. Why then was she in his arms now? Then she witnessed herself giving him Geass in his memories, which further confused her; she knew that she had not given the boy Geass. Charles could not use his Geass on her to make her forget; no, something else was definitely going on here.

She watched intently as the boy led a rebellion against the greatest power in the world, a rebellion fraught with mistakes, but a rebellion nonetheless. What unnerved her was how close he gotten to her; he knew her name, something not even Marianne and Charles knew. She watched as the boy reaffirmed his contract with her, which truly touched her; no one had cared for her like that in a long time.

However, she couldn't help but feel jealous as he interacted with Kallen and Shirley, something else she had not felt in a long time.

She watched him ultimately fail only to rise again with her help. He made it so far as to create a new and free Japan, his first true goal achieved. She could feel his concern and devastation as her memories were lost. She could feel his pain as first Shirley and then his sister, Nunnally, were killed. Shortly after she witnessed the betrayal by those he thought of as his men.

It looked like he was not able to finish his contract either, though his words "Don't die looking like that; you should come to death smiling," made her think. She felt his emotions as he spoke; he wished for her to at least die happy, or better yet, to continue living. Despite feeling his emotions, his words still confused her, "You should come to death smiling..."

This boy's feelings for her were obvious, even if she knew he had no idea what they would do to her if he truly expressed them. His feelings towards the other girls though, that could make things interesting. At least she knew he was a red-blooded male underneath that haughty exterior.

She continued watching as Rolo died, the child that the boy had used for almost a year. She could feel his remorse, his regret, as the pain of grief caused by what he had done and what he had become filled him.

She couldn't believe that the boy confronted Charles in C's World after what had happened the last time. She couldn't help the sorrow that filled her when Charles struck the Ragnarok Connection to God, even though it would have meant her wish was coming true. There was a painful twist in her gut as she listened to the boy as he denounced Charles' plan as something that would make the world no better then the Hell she was cursed to experience every day.

As the memories ended with the boy geassing God, she faintly heard the boy in her mind, "Are you ok, Cera?"

She could feel his sincerity, his concern as he asked. When she did not reply, he asked aloud, and this time she could feel the fear in him, "You do remember right? You can explain this."

She was honored that he had that much faith in her, even if it was misplaced. She was a little shocked at herself as she started the process of giving the boy geass, just like last time, as she mockingly whispered into his mind, "What are you waiting for? You already know what to do."

As the contract started to form, she let herself shut down, exhausted like she always was after starting a contract. She could feel his small arms cradle her as she retreated into the depths of her mind to go over everything that she had learned.

*****G'sG*****

Lelouch smirked as he adjusted C.C. on his lap. He was however concerned that she still was not moving, even after he had felt her give him his geass. Last time she was up and walking around by this point; it was disturbing that she lay so still now. Thus, he was keeping her with him as much as possible, at least until they returned to Ashford.

Besides, it not like he was complaining about the close quarters of the Sutherland; he knew C.C. was amazingly beautiful. 'Maybe this time…' Shaking his head, he focused again on what he needed to do next.

He had acquired Villetta's Knightmare just like last time, a simple thing using her own greed and pride against her. She might have been useful at times last time, but she had been a far bigger pain. If it was not for the fact that she did truly make Oghi happy, he would have killed her there, but he had decided to do this right this time, which meant helping the people he was working with. That however had not stopped him from adding one extra command to Villeta when he geassed her.

Now it was time for him to save Kallen.

That one brought back memories that, while terrible, made him smile. Loyal, brave Kallen, who had stood between him and everyone she knew and trusted, just to try and keep him safe. He realized then what she had meant to him. Thinking he was going to die at that point, he had lied horribly to her back then to keep her safe. Her horrified and hurt face at what he said hurt him far too much, but he had just lost Nunnally and, not long before, Shirley. There was no way he was going to risk losing Kallen then too.

'This time,' he thought as his Knightmare sped off, 'this time I will save them all. Nothing will stop me; I swear it.'

*****G'sG*****

Kallen Kōzuki knew she was in a tight spot. Not only had her old Glasgow Knightmare lost an arm, but she was having a hard time trying to cover the escape of the inhabitants of Shinjuku while simultaneously fighting the pair of Sutherlands chasing her. Sutherlands that were following her every move, and that damned beeping from her own Knightmare was really grating on her nerves. "Dammit, I know I have less than thirty minutes left!" she swore.

Her head snapped up as her communicator went off, "The west entrance," a commanding voice ordered, "Use the tracks to move to the west entrance."

Confused and worried as to what kind of idiot had managed to hack into their communication codes, she rebuked, "Who is this?! How do you know this code?!"

"Still impatient as ever, Kallen," the voice chuckled. Kallen paled, only managing to continue piloting the Knightmare through pure instinct. "Regardless, if you wish to win, you're going to have to trust me," the voice continued.

"To win?" Kallen repeated, her voice sounding dull and confused. She couldn't believe that this man who was not part of the group knew that she was the one piloting the Knightmare, or her name of all things. He could have her killed no problem now. Even more confusing was the feeling his voice radiated. It felt almost as if he knew her very well, but she didn't recall hearing anyone like that before.

Desperate and out of choices, Kallen cursed herself but complied with the mysterious voice.

Pushing the Glasgow as hard as she could, she mounted the railroad tracks that lead to the subways. She cursed herself when she got on them. There was nothing there except the train coming towards her, and the two Sutherlands she had been avoiding were almost on her now.

"Jump on the train, Kallen," the voice instructed. Kallen, shocked at the command, looked up at the train moving towards her position. Putting on all her acceleration, she forced the Glasgow to leap onto the train even as the first enemy Sutherland stopped the vehicle in its tracks, forcing the train engine off the tracks. The other Sutherland jumped up to follow her.

Her optics barely picked it up as a Slash Harken shot from the side, knocking the enemy Sutherland out of the sky and off the raised tracks. Her eyes widened comically when she noted that the shot had come from another Sutherland, complete with Britannian insignia and all, lurking in an abandoned building near the tracks.

A hail of bullets cut off any action the remaining Sutherland could have taken and had the extra effect of holding him in place long enough for Kallen to react as she punched the mech's face in. She couldn't help but feel that it was a pity that the pilot managed to eject without being captured; the man might have had some good intel.

"Thank you! How'd you get your hands on a Sutherland?" she spoke into her communicator.

There was no response on the communicator, and she noted that the hole in the building where she had seen the Sutherland was now empty. Her savior had evidently disappeared to make good on his escape. She couldn't help but feel like she was ever so slightly outclassed.

"Kallen!" Ohgi's voice called out over the communicator. The rebel leader raced up to her upon the tracks along with the rest of their group, "What the hell was that radio message earlier?!"

"He contacted you too?" Kallen asked, staring at her friends as the radio crackled back to life again.

"Good to see you managed to make it back to Kallen alive, Kaname Oghi." The fear she had felt when the man had addressed her only got worse when she heard him mention Oghi's name. "For your skill and courage, I offer you and your men the cargo of this supply train. What is within will be the tools of your victory here. Prepare quickly; the people do not have time to wait for you."

Thinking quickly, Kallen spun her Glasgow around and, using her one good arm, ripped the sliding door off of the first cargo car and could only sputter at what was revealed. Two complete Sutherlands were in the car itself, along with what looked like enough armaments to arm a small army.

"I see you appreciate my gifts. They, along with my guidance, will assist you in this battle. Do as I say, and victory will be yours without a doubt."

She couldn't help it, but as she tried to yell her voice caught, making it sound more like a stammer as she demanded, "How… How do you know-"

The voice cut her off, "Who you are, Kallen?" There was a pregnant pause before the voice came back sounding a lot sharper than before, "Enough of this; suit up, recharge, and wait for my signal."

*****G'sG*****

Lelouch scoffed, his eyes focusing on the screen showing the movements of all the forces on the Britannia side as he got back in the cockpit of the Sutherland. Had it been this easy last time? He remembered that even when they were younger Clovis could never beat him at chess or any strategy game, and he acknowledged that he had only gotten better at strategy with both rebellions. It still could not have been this easy the first time around though. It seemed that every strategy he used, hell, even every guess for a move that he made, worked perfectly in his favor.

Snorting at his brother's incompetence, he maneuvered C.C. so that her arms were wrapped around him. Right now, it was something that felt comforting with so many possibilities open to him.

He was currently moving four units that were in 'reserve' as he told them. In reality, however, they were being strategically placed to deal with the Lancelot if it arrived even without Suzaku. Their objective would be to take it out of action, so it could not interfere with the Hotel incident this time. However, he was planning to accomplish this without the loss of rebels that he had sacrificed last time.

Turning on the communicator, he hailed the group, "R1, R2, take your units and enter the building in front of you. Make your way to the second floor then wait for further instructions. Red Queen do you have a map of the Ghetto?

"Yes," he heard Kallen snap at him, almost causing an amused chuckle to escape him, "I have a map, but it doesn't have any current landmarks-!"

"Not a problem for this part of the plan," Lelouch interrupted reassuringly. He was intently watching the map on his console as Prince Clovis took half of his encircling forces and sent them into attack where Kallen's Glasgow had activated its signal.

He noted that just like last time, neither Clovis nor his advisors considered that she might be underground.

"Kallen, use your Slash Harkens to tear down the ceiling from under them, with all that weight it shouldn't take much to come down. Then meet up with P1, P2, and P7. They are located two blocks north of where you entered the maintenance tunnel."

"With this, I call check brother." Lelouch whispered, watching as the smoke started to rise above the Shinjuku skyline from Kallen's position.

Waiting until Kallen met up with the correct forces, right in the path of the Lancelot, he continued his instructions, "We are not done yet. Q1, P1, P2, and P7, relieve P4 and P5 in escorting the civilians out of the ghetto.." His order cut through the mounting celebration of the rebels. He distinctly heard Tamaki over the communicator confusedly asking, "The battle isn't over yet?"

Snorting he instructed, "No. The battle is not over till Clovis is dealt with. However that will be my task. Your primary mission is to get the people to safety and cover their retreat. P4 and P5 when you are replaced head to my current location at the train station, there are supplies here for the use of you and the rest of your group."

Sugiyama cut in, "You think you can kill a Prince?"

He simply chuckled as he moved his sutherland towards the G1 base, "Yes. Yes I will."

*****G'sG*****

Lloyd stared at the handful of soldiers in the medical tent in no small amount of disgust. He needed a pilot for his Lancelot and when he had asked for one for this operation they had told him to find one in medical… However according to their military files none of these fools could manage even a 50% on a Sutherland simulator. To make matters worse when he offered it to the two injured Honorary Britannians, although they had never tried a simulator so Lloyd didn't know how good they would be, they had taken one look at the Britannian Soldiers reactions and submissively said no thank you. It was maddening.

Turning to Cécile to express his dismay he just happened to see a few of the honorary Britannians that were sent to look for the missing truck in the tunnels and was instantly aware of the possibility. Sweet sweet providence had provided him in his time of need.

Grabbing Cécile's arm and pulling her along he exclaimed, "Come come Cécile. I see another potential recruiting option."

Ignoring his assistance annoyed exclamation he aimed straight for the group of Honorary Britannians, figuring with how little the military actually cared about them he could acquire one and have them assigned to him without a problem.

He had not even gotten halfway to his targets when he heard a massive explosion from the other side of the hastily set up base. Skidding to a stop he turned to see where the explosion was from he froze stock still. He could not be one hundred percent accurate with everything between them, but it looked like there was a black cloud floating up from where his Lancelot was.

He shook his head to get rid of the nightmare only to look again when Cécile gasped. It was real. There was nothing he could do. He took off towards his baby, his arm still clutching Cécile arm as he almost dragged her behind him. And one foolish Honorary Britannian following behind them.

******G'sG*****

Sugiyama looked at the other three with him then back over the debris that he was crouching behind at the train station, deep in thought as the others debated what to do. The voice had told them to head here for supplies but when they arrived they had seen the pair of Britannian humvees stationed right outside of the entrance of the station. Since then they had devolved into a furious but quiet argument about what they should do. He had mostly ignored them, despite having been a police detective before the invasion the only person that really respected him in the group for his experience was Oghi. There was an undercurrent of feeling within most of the resistance factions that the police and army should have fought more during the invasion. So these three would likely ignore anything that he advised out of hand.

He however was not a Police Detective for nothing though. He had been paying close attention to the station and Humvees and there was nothing there. No movement. No noise. No signs of people being present at all.

Shooting one last look at the three behind him he vaulted over the small wall and started making his way towards the station. Despite how much faith he had in his deductions he couldn't help that it felt as if his stomach was full of molten lead with the pair of shiny mounted machinegun on top of the Humvees staring down at him, but he kept going.

He felt a small amount of triumph as his guess paid off when he made it to the door of the station and nothing had moved. Not seeing anything through the glass door he turned around and started towards the closer Humvee.

As soon as he turned he froze. There behind both Humvee's were broken pieces of electronic equipment. One he could easily identify from his time in the Police force, it was the system used to pinpoint where the car was at any point in case they needed backup…

Signaling the other three over they, it looked like they had a drive ahead of them.

*****G'sG*****

Lelouch smiled to himself as he walked down the hallway towards the bridge of Clovis's transport. It had been almost too easy to get inside the transport itself, especially with the diversion he had set up. In truth he had found it much harder to hide both the Sutherland and C.C. in an abandoned building nearby.

The few guards still at the transport had been rather easy to geass, as he could only assume every competent soldier that were still in the base were likely attempting to figure out who had attacked the Lancelot.

With the guards outside the G1 geassed to shoot anyone other than himself that tried to enter or leave the transport, he figured that he would have enough time to get everything he wanted done.

As he reached the entrance to the bridge, he sneered at his brother's lack of thought. No one on board the entire transport had even tried to stop him as he did as he pleased, not that it would have mattered if they did.

Deciding that this was one of those moments that was best not left the same, he reached toward the console and quickly cut the energy to the bridge as he swung the door open.

As he strode into the bridge, he had to suppress a chuckle at the chaos that simply cutting the power had reduced those present to. It was rather pathetic and became even more so when, just like the last time, everyone turned to look at him.

"All of you are to go wait in the hallway for my further instructions," he commanded, and he couldn't help but wonder with as fast as they were leaving if any of them actually wanted to be present at the bridge to begin with. Well, that certainly made his job much easier.

A confused and worried Clovis barked out, "Bartley! What do you think you are doing? Get back here this instant!"

He quelled the hurt and disgust he knew he would feel again for killing Clovis. The brother who he had once considered a gentle soul had fallen and become this thing before him, twisted by greed and apathy, and it needed to be permanently removed.

"You have changed so much, Clovis," he muttered sadly. He forced a smirk onto his face as he walked forward towards the light just enough for the handgun aimed at Clovis' face to be seen.

Clovis spat, "What do you think you are going to accomplish, terrorist?"

Lelouch smiled sadly, "Prince Clovis, I command you. You will declare a ceasefire, pulling all of your men back, and letting the civilians within the ghetto retreat to safety." As his older half-brother's eyes glazed over with a purple hue, Lelouch sighed. Next would come the hard part. It was necessary, though, that he not change this one part of the encounter in the G1.

As Clovis's geass wore off and the prince became lucid again, he appeared far more frightened, "What… what did you do to me? Who are you? Damn it answer me!"

Forcing the sad smile on his face into a feral grin, he stepped forward into the light. "What is this, big brother? Did you forget about us again, like all those years ago?"

Clovis blanched as he stuttered, "Lelouch… I… D… don't do this… Please."

*Bang*

Lelouch turned away quickly after the gun unloaded; he needed to get away. He needed to see his sister and to hold C.C.; that would make this all okay. He nodded as if to steel himself, this needed to be finished quickly, he had to see Nunnally.

*****G'sG*****

Sayoko was rather unused to being this confused, especially when it came to Master Lelouch. Since she had started taking care of them she had noticed that Master Lelouch had always tried to keep everything inside, it was a habit that made him the most unruly child in the process, but he was easier for her to read than most other people because of this.

Tonight though, she was quite befuddled, Lelouch had not returned for dinner with his sister, and had still not turned up by the time Nunnally went to bed. She had stayed awake after Nunnally had gone to sleep, waiting for Master Lelouch to return, both to make sure of his safety and to find out what the boy had been up to.

Now she was standing in the shadows, stealthily watching Master Lelouch carry a girl into his room. The only thing that had stopped her from interfering had been that the young lady seemed to be in a prisoner's uniform. No, this was one of those things she would _not_ interfere in; Master Lelouch would have to tell her in the morning as was his want.

She couldn't help the smile that slid onto her face as she watched Master Lelouch make his way out of his room and down to Mistress Nunnally's room. As soon as Mistress's door closed however she was off.

Creaking open Master Lelouch's door, she took in everything before her. She was only mildly surprised that Master Lelouch had laid the young woman gently down in the bed, even going so far as to tuck the young lady in. However, she was now certain that she had never seen the girl before.

Nonetheless, the main reason she had entered the room was alleviated at the one sight that actually surprised her. Laid out on the floor was what seemed like every extra blanket and pillow the boy had in an attempt to make a semblance of a bed. Sneaking out of the room, she chided herself for questioning Master Lelouch integrity, she had taught him better then to act as she thought he had.

As she made her way down towards the guest room, she wondered what Master Lelouch had managed to get himself into, the boy should know by now that he could tell her things. She had always helped Master Lelouch, and there was no reason that that would ever change.

*****G'sG*****

Cécile looked from the report she was writing up for Prince Schneizel about what had happened to the Lancelot today, and shot a glare across the lab at Lloyd as he worked on removing the damaged parts of the Lancelot leaving her with all the paperwork. It was only by luck that the attack had not done nearly as much damage as they had feared it had on original inspection.

The damage to the body and arm was mostly superficial with damage only to the outer armor pieces. However, the Lancelot's left leg was beyond repair and would need to completely be replaced. The only upside to that was they had most of the parts they would need to repair the Knightmare on hand.

She slowly looked over at the only other person still in the lab tonight. A young Honorary Britannian in the army named Suzaku Kururugi had run after them towards the explosion intent on helping in any way he could. Lloyd not one to look a gift horse in the mouth had put the younger boy right to work.

Then around a half hour ago when their three assistants started filtering out of the lab for the night Mr. Kururugi had made to follow. Lloyd however had stopped him seizing the chance for what it could be and coerced the younger boy into at least trying to pilot the Lancelot. Lloyd had played heavily on the idea that if Mr. Kururugi did very well as a Knightmare pilot other elevens could follow in his footsteps. It was something she knew was unlikely to be true but the boy seemed so hopeful at the prospect she could not bring herself to say anything.

Looking over at the simulator now though she noted that the purple indicator light was now on marking as the third scenario was now in progress. She couldn't deny that she was curious. Most attempts only made it to the second almost impossible scenario Lloyd had programmed for the simulator, as he would accept nothing but the absolute best possible pilots for his baby, and of the handful that made it to the third none had scored lower than fifty six percent efficiency, so there was potential the boy could be a good pilot. Granted no one so far had scored higher than sixty eight percent efficiency but the Lancelot was a very high demand machine so that was not too surprising.

Hitting a few keys on her keyboard she brought up the results for the first two scenarios Mr. Kururugi had completed. She could only stare at the results for yelling for Lloyd to come look. The results were the best so far in testing, with the boy coming in at a steady ninety four percent efficiency, a good fifty percent higher than the average so far.

*****G'sG*****

Lelouch slowly pushed open the door to Nunnally's room with trepidation gripping him tightly. Remembrance of the anguish of losing her and fear of what she would think of him warred inside him.

There in front of him, sprawled out on her bed, was his darling sister. His sweet, innocent baby sister, sleeping peacefully, ignorant of everything he would do for her again. He as Lelouch had not been able to speak to his beautiful, baby sister for over a year now… She was the most important person in his life, someone that had he seen vanish in the explosion of a FREIJA not long enough ago for the pain to have faded even slightly.

Closing the door softly, he walked towards the head of his sister's bed. He had missed her so much, and then she had been taken away from him. Now with her back in front of him, his feet felt like lead as they dragged him forward. His heart was hammering out of his chest when he reached her headboard, so much so that he was surprised she didn't hear it and wake up.

He gently traced her cheek and ran his hand through her hair, marveling that out of everything that had happened so far, this was by far the most magnificent. He smiled and ignored the tears that formed in his eyes as he bent down and kissed his sister's cheek before walking for the door.

He thought of the Sutherland he had hidden under the school at this very moment in a sealed security exit, of C.C, only two rooms down -still unconscious- and curled on his bed, the missions he gave the command staff of the G1, and how he was going to have to explain everything to Sayoko in the morning. As those thoughts competed in his mind, he murmured, "It will be different this time. You will get your gentler world, Nunnally. I promise!"

*****G'sG*****

Margrave Jeremiah Gottwald did not know what he should be doing. He knew what he wanted to be doing right now, but he did not know how.

Casting one last longing look at the cabinet near his desk, he turned back to Villetta Nu and Kewell Soresi, "What do we actually know about what happened out there?"

His two subordinated shared a look before Kewel shrugged, "Honestly I have no idea. At first glance it seemed like the normal terrorist eleven trash we have to clean up occasionally. Then it just wasn't. They were everywhere and just as well armed as we were, following a commander better than any we could field here in area 11. If it was not for all the Britannians that attacked us I would have said this was all a nightmare, but those attacks…"

He could not suppress the flinch that passed through him at that reminder. It brought up things he had tried to bury these past few years.

First the base had been attacked by a full squad of Britannian Heavy Infantry. Which had been inexcusable and in the firefight that followed the traitors had been killed to a man. Then however questions had to be asked and even that obnoxious Earl Asplund had no answers as to why the only objective of this attack seemed to be Prince Schneizel's pet project here in Area 11.

The other attack had been much worse. Almost all of the bridge staff was dead with only General Bradley missing in action and two others in critical condition in the military hospital just north of the consulate. On top of that the Prince was dead. Again another Royal dead on his watch. That was number 4 for him now…

Shaking his head he looked pointedly at his subordinates, "Kewell you were the one that found the two survivors. I need you to be honest, what you wrote in this report how much faith would you put in this man's words?"

Kewell actually seemed uncomfortable at the question, "Well honestly… I really don't know. While he seemed kind of out of it, he was determined to warn someone, anyone really about what he heard."

Rubbing the brim of his nose he addressed Villetta, "Villetta, please go through the proper channels to request Prince Schneizel's presence in Area 11. Tell him about the damage to his toy Knightmare, and what we know of the damages source to get him here. This is way above us. Way to far above our pay grade to do anything."

Trailing off he looked down at the only statement Kewel could get out of the injured officer as they carted him off, "They said they served Princess Guinevere. They were getting rid of the competition."

A shiver ran down his spine as he heard the words in his head, like someone had tread across his grave.

*****G'sG*****

Charles glared at the memories before him. How had that imbecilic Prince Clovis managed to hide the fact that he was running tests on C.C. from him of all people?

Worse yet, that foolish boy of Marianne's had killed Clovis, showing just how far the boy was willing to go to oppose him. It only became worse now that that troublesome child had acquired Geass. He had thought that he had managed to squash the rebellious attitude out of the boy when he had exiled him and the boy's sister to Japan, the treatment he received all those years ago should have made him a finely tempered blade to be used when needed not this..

It truly was a pity the boy was so resourceful and a phenomenal strategist on top of it. No, this was an annoyance at best, if it was not for the entrance to the Thought Elevator hidden in Area 11 he would not even care.

He mused to himself about how to deal with the boy. Even if he wished too, he could not just have the boy killed. That would not do, Marianne was very particular about her children, and he did not want to upset her. This needed to be handed like all terrorist operations were, but which of his children could he send?

Schneizel would not do. That boy was already causing to many problems; though he could probably wrap up the situation quickly. Besides, the last thing Schneizel needed to find out about was the existence of Geass.

Cornelia though... Cornelia and Euphemia together had promise. The foolish boy had always been sweet on his little sisters Nunnally and Euphemia; with her as viceroy, he would be too cautious to actually do anything too overt. Cornelia, on the other hand, was his second best child when it came to military leadership, with only Schneizel beating her, and she would have no trouble fixing this problem.

*****G'sG*****

Jerking awake with a start and looking around, they realized that they were alive, whole, and they seemed to be in their old bedroom. That didn't make sense, however; they had not seen this room in almost a year, having been in Japan. What made less sense was that they were alive. They could clearly remember dying.

Whatever was going on, they clearly were not supposed to be here of all places. Lelouch, Lelouch needed them in Area 11. This time this time they would be of use to Lelouch, they would do better. Maybe then…


	3. Hearts

_**This part is important!**_ I will be putting up a poll, and I want to explain it here. Lelouch in this story is going to end up with more than one woman, the romance subplot will take time and he might now even be together with every women I intend to add by the end of this story (I intend for a trilogy). However that said there are only two girls that I will definately be adding, then there are two possibilities, There will be NO others please do not ask. Now for the reason for this blurb; I am undecided if I should add Milly and/or Kallen. Surprisingly for the same reason, while I can easily see them in a romantic relationship with Lelouch I can also see them looking at Lelouch like a brother. _**So I am asking do you want to see them in a romantic relationship with Lelouch or to have them as really close platonic friends?**_

Please Read and Review. Thank you. Remember I own nothing of the Code Geass universe. Please read and review.

Chapter 2: Hearts

Ohgi sat quietly at a table they had found in the ruined warehouse which they were currently using as their headquarters. Everything that had happened in the past twenty four hours was racing through his mind, leaving it a jumbled mess of confusion. Nagata's death had been confirmed when they had found the remains of the truck, although even with respirator packs he had been wary of letting his people get too close to the poison gas capsule now that it was opened.

The loss of the bio weapon was a devastating blow to Naoto's plan to deprive Britannia of resources to use against them, and a small voice in the back of his mind pointed out that if he had just opened up and tried to talk to the other resistance cells this could have been avoided. The massacre of Shinjuku Ghetto and the arrival of the mysterious voice that had miraculously managed to marshal his entire group to repel the Britannian forces however was his main concern right now.

Oghi couldn't help that his mind had wandered. He didn't want to assign blame for this entire mess, but if he had to he knew where the blame lay…. Tamaki as usual. His impatience had been the entire reason that they had acquired a tail in the first place. Cursing at himself he pushed the sake bottle away, this was not time for drunken 'what ifs', this was the time he had to think things through, to think up a plan.

He needed to keep his people safe. The voice had known who they were, by name. The memory of every time the voice directly addressed Kallen especially sent a shiver down his spine.

Ever since they had lost Naoto he had been looking out for her. He knew he could never replace her older brother, and he would never want to, but the girl had no one in her life to turn to at that time. He had only known her as Naoto's younger sister but they had bonded in their grief, and he truly cared about the younger girl now as if she was his own younger sister. The fact that her life was now in the hands of someone he did not know terrified him, even worse she was out there in the settlement and none of them could help her if something happened.

He tried to convince himself that everything was ok because this voice was on their side. He could not rid himself of the fear though, as even if this unknown voice was not against them he owned them completely. If he told them to do something and they refused all he had to do was contact the Britannians and there was nothing they could do to stop him.

Trying to push that depressing idea out of his mind he went back to what he had been doing before he started drinking. Looking at the diagrams before him, he was trying to come up with escape routes for Kallen if something happened because of this Zero character. It was hard to do so though, as so many of the ideas revolved around escaping while she was at Ashford Academy, a place that was a distinctly sore subject with him.

It was not fair that there was schools like that for the Britannians but the Japanese people were no longer allowed to have or run schools. His life ambition to teach had been destroyed when those damn Britannians attacked and he could not help but feel that kernel of resentment every time Kallen went back to school. She knew and she never spoke about it with him wishing he could teach as well, but that did not erase the resentment that he felt whenever he thought of it.

Those days were gone however. There would be no more teaching in his future, now that he was the leader of a rebel militia, a force, albeit a measly one, but never the less a force that was willing to stand against the tyranny of Britannians.

Now that this voice was on the scene though, he couldn't help but wonder if he was even needed anymore…

****G's G****

Kallen looked into the mirror as she was getting ready for school. She had to suppress a snort at what she saw in the reflection, because at least it would not be hard to act her part today. The shadows under her eyes and the frazzled look she just could not shake off would do wonders for the image she wore, a sick invalid.

It had been the best way to excuse her frequent absences to the Ghetto to work with Oghi and the resistance. That however did not stop her from hating it. She hated looking weak even if only in disguise, and it only got worse when she had to socialize with her 'fellow' Britannian schoolgirls. They were all just privileged, petty girls that would fall apart at something like a chipped nail.

She could barely stand to be around them, but the option of leaving her education behind was a definite no. She could still remember her brother bragging to Oghi when they were younger about how good she was doing in classes. Sure, she knew it was because Oghi was a teacher, but still her brother had been proud of her because of her schooling so she could never abandon it, not unless there were no other options.

That was the only reason she stayed, putting up with all of the stupid privileged Britannians and had to face the hurt on Oghi's face when she returned to the Ghetto. She would never talk about that though…

Now however for the first time she might actually have to flee at some point. Someone out there knew who she was and what she did for the resistance. As she finished straightening her tie, she scanned the top of her dresser until she found what she wanted. Snatching up her purse she squeezed in gently, just enough for the switchblade to pop out. She sighed in relief knowing it was there. She really hoped she never needed to use it but if she ever had to she would use it to defend herself.

Looking in the mirror once more she grabbed her bag and headed for the door. As she left she tried to think of the quickest way through the Mansion to get to the kitchen and then out while still avoiding both her mother and stepmother. Scowling as she heard someone walking in her direction, she realized that this was just not going to be her day.

****G's G****

C.C. could see light shining on her face from behind her closed eyes as she started to slowly return to consciousness. It had been a very long night, having spent most of it deep within her own subconscious working through all the memories she had acquired from Lelouch.

Oh that boy infuriating, she could feel all of the love he felt for her… and Kallen… and Shirley… Something that she could easily deal with, but along with that love had been the hormonal teenage lust. It had been rather hard to categorize those memories while trying to shut the feeling off, she eventually realized they were permanent now despite her wishes otherwise.

The boy had messed with her in ways she would never forget and now he was waking her up early. Slowly she turned away from the light snuggling deeper into the soft bed.

Then she heard his voice, as it was quickly followed by the soft sound of footsteps coming closer, "Cera your awake, I was worried."

The sincere worry that filled his voice filled her with joy. The idea he truly cared for her, that he could fulfill her true deepest wish made her take the time to think out what to say and not just snarl something back at him.

Turning slowly to see him she cracked an eye open trying to not look at the light, but at the boy's face, or at least see his face well enough to gauge his reaction. However, as happenstance would have it Lelouch was standing directly in front of the sunlight coming in from the window, leaving his face almost impossible to read. Slowly annunciating everything to show that she was not pleased with him right now, "It is far too early to be awake boy."

Instantly fear gripped her that she had given something away in a way that she didn't understand yet, as Lelouch responded with a whole body flinch. Searching what little of his face she could see to try and pick up some clue, she was shocked when he asked in a small voice, "You don't remember?"

Giving up on going back to sleep, which was likely a lost cause until Lelouch went to school at least, she sighed, "No. I have no memory of anything that happened." She felt in a twisted way elated as Lelouch's face fell, elated that is that she meant so much to him that her not remembering bothered him. Deciding to continue before he really despaired, "While I may not have my memories I have lived through your recollection of events, so I believe myself sufficiently informed."

Pausing to give him a pointed glare as she pushed herself up to a sitting position, "I saw everything from your perspective, battles, feelings, people." She noted that he had no idea what she meant, or at least his face was too full of concern and relief to have picked up on what she meant.

She felt her mouth go dry as he sat on the bed and grabbed her hand in his, "I'm sorry, so very sorry Cera. I promise this time it will all be better, nothing like last time was. I hope… I hope that even without your memories, you will believe me when I promise you that this time… This time I will make time so that you have your own happy memories to remember."

She wanted to hit him, she knew he had no idea as to what he truly said to her just now, what that offer meant to her. Deciding to ignore it, as it would not do for him to see her acting sappy, "And just how are you going to go about making this time different?"

Her stomach did all sorts of flip-flops as he squeezed her hand before answering, "This time as I said I will focus on what needs to be done. Cornelia, Suzaku, The Black Knights… They were all enemies of my own making in the end. Raised from the lies, pain and death I had created to come and smite me in revenge. No, this time I will proceed without that hatred I carried around for years, I will make it all better."

He smiled wanly at her and she smirked back, when he smiled she could see just how much more relaxed he was, like the weight of the world had been taken from him. Getting up he walked towards the window as he continued, "I intend to be more open this time. So much could have been prevented…"

She continued to watch him curiously as his voice broke even when he sounded so full of hope. He turned to look at her and his eyes shone with such intensity she was glad she was already sitting with how weak in the knees she went. "They won't die this time. None of them will, I swear it."

She tilted her head to the side as she spoke, "That's a very bold statement to promise boy. How can you be sure that you will always be able to protect everyone?"

The intensity of his voice matched his eyes as he scowled, "I can't let them die, I won't. None of them will die this time; I can't let it happen My Witch; I can't."

She couldn't help the chill that ran down her back at those words. As she eyed the boy critically, an urge fuelled by memories not her own filled her. Deliberately getting out of bed, her eyes never leaving Lelouch's face she wrapped her arms around the boy pulling him into what she hoped was a comforting hug.

Lelouch folded around her, enveloping her with his own slender frame. It was intoxicating this feeling, she could never describe how it felt.

He whispered, his breath tracing across her ear, doing things she again wished he understood, "I can't lose them. I need to save them. I can do it this time; I learned every lesson that I needed to learn."

She couldn't say it even though she wished to, knowing there was one lesson that he would need to learn now, after what had happened in the World of C. Then she was distracted by what she saw on his computer screen from over his shoulder.

Her gasp had Lelouch jerk back, but when he caught sight of her eyes he chuckled, "Yes. I was planning to make it a surprise for you. I had already started working on getting what I need for as Zero and I thought…"

She cut him off, the poor boy had done something sweet and was about to put his foot in his mouth she knew it. He was a genius, but even from his memories, she could tell he had no idea how to talk to girls. Thinking about how caring it was he bought her Cheese-kun plushie she put Lelouch's lips to a far better purpose than talking.

****G's G****

Jeremiah tiredly looked up as the door to his office opened letting in Lord Kewell. He nodded in acknowledgement of his subordinate as he entered trying to ignore the annoyance he was feeling towards the man since last night. So it was no surprise that as soon as the door swung closed Lord Kewell demanded, "Why have you not done anything Jeremiah? While we should grieve for Prince Clovis' death, without The Prince or General Bartley there is a vacancy at the top spot for Area 11. All it would take is one pen stroke from you and we could have an entire area to run. There may never be a chance like this for us Purists again. We can not let this chance pass us by."

"No Kewell this is not a good time for that."

Kewell looked like he had been slapped stupid at the blunt contradiction, "How is this not the perfect time?"

He couldn't help but shake his head, "You are from a noble family are you not Kewell?"

At Kewell's annoyed nod he continued, "But you have not had any real contact with the Royal Family have you?"

Kewell's face looked mutinous at the perceived insult , "Your point?"

"My point is that if Princess Guinevere is involved that would make this a spat between two Royal children, a precarious place to put yourself in. If I took over as emergency Viceroy I would either be killed or have to choose a side myself. I personally would like to wait till the dust settles and we can get a clearer picture until I can make a choice about something as important as this."

He knew Kewell was annoyed with him but the angry sneer that the man shot him took him by surprise, "So it is cowardness then. Pathetic."

Sighing in exasperation, "I would saying it's more prudence. If you think it is so necessary then you take it, we will say that as I am in charge of investigating what happened. Some would say there is a conflict of interest if I took the Viceroyship, which could serve as cover for why the second in command of the Military in Area 11 is taking over and not the current head."

Kewell took a moment to school his features at the thought before nodding his head, "That could work Lord Jeremiah. Yes it could."

As Kewell turned to leave the younger man stopped in the doorway and turned around, "It is good to know that even this tragedy has not made you question what you have learned within the Purists. I would hate for you to have started to think those two were ever in the same league as Prince Clovis."

The slam of the door behind Kewell barely masked the sound of a pen breaking into pieces.

**** G's G****

Sayoko busied herself getting breakfast ready for Master Lelouch and Mistress Nunnally before the school day. She did so hoping that Master Lelouch would not disappoint the Young Mistress again by missing another meal. It would however be interesting to see the Young Mistress' reaction if the Young Master brought the girl that spent the night down to breakfast with him.

Smiling as she reached for the eggs, she heard someone walking down the hall to the kitchen. The light tread was easily identified as Master Lelouch walking normally, in a way he was more discreet that way then he was when he tried to hide the night before.

Turning with the eggs in her hands she said, "Good Morning Master Lelouch, will you be dining with Mistress Nunnally this morning?"

"Yes I will be, so a simple breakfast is best. I want to help you get breakfast ready this morning myself. I have something important to discuss, and would rather not have Nunnally overhear what I have to say." She took particular interest in the Young Master's eyes as she took in his response, they were different this morning, a difference that she could never remember seeing in them. Gone was the cold ice of hatred hidden in their depth that was present except for when he was with his sister, instead they were shining with what she could only call the hope. They looked like little gems as they seemed to sparkle.

"Master Lelouch there is no need to explain about your young Lady. It is not my place to interfere in anyway with such relationships."

Keeping her eyes on Master Lelouch her lips curled into a smirk at how red the young Master had gotten.

"No… Well yes but I mean…" She couldn't have stopped the smile that found it's way onto her face if she had wanted to, as the Young Master sputtered.

An odd look passed over the Young Master's face when he finally seemed to collect himself, finally he spoke after taking the eggs from her hands and carrying them over to the oven, "I meant to start this morning with thanking you for taking care of and protecting me and my sister, but I guess I must also thank you for so much more." She watched in confusion as he turned to face her fully, "Thank you for everything you have done for both me and my sister Sayoko. We would never have made it this far without your help. You never simply looked after us or tried to keep us safe, you took two damaged children and did everything you could to make us feel like we still had someone that was there for us. I... That is what makes this both so much more difficult and simpler to tell you at the same time."

Her interest peaked he waited for him to continue, taking keen interest in the traces of vulnerability that the normally impervious Prince was showing, "Yesterday I wound up in Shinjuku Ghetto through a series of unfortunate events. However, that was when it happened. I witnessed the slaughter of the Japanese for the second time, ordered by my brother Clovis."

His hand we clenched into fists so tight she was concerned that his nails might have actually cut skin. Without thinking about it she closed the distance and rested her hand gently on his shoulder. He took a deep breath and his hand relaxed just so slightly as he looked up, his eyes were hard but not cold like before, they seemed almost ablaze as he declared, "I have finally taken my stand Sayoko, and now more then ever I need your help. I could not let this happen again. I couldn't do anything the first time but I would be damned if I did not try to save everyone I could. The girl in my room, Clovis had her as a prisoner; he tortured her. I need you to take care of them. I need you to take care of Nunnally..."

The look on his face had confused her for a moment before she mentally went over what he actually said and realized what he had just told her. That he thought of her as the one that had raised them for the last seven years. It was almost the same amount of time he spent being raised by his mother, and the memories of her would be fresher and not associated with the pain of death. With that revelation came another, she had heard about the fighting in Shinjuku and there was whispers saying that the Viceroy was dead. From his own admission it would mean that Master Lelouch was the one behind it, having done so to save the Japanese, and he was coming to her for help. Even more so though, he was coming to her hoping for understanding, like one would expect a young unsure child looking for help from an older family member. She could not count the number of times she had seen the young Mistress do the same thing with Master Lelouch.

"Master Lelouch." She stopped when she felt him stiffen slightly at her words. She took her hand off his shoulder and put her hand on the back of his head, tilting it so he was looking her in the eye rather than on the floor, "I was hired years ago to protect both you and your sister. However, you also needed someone to look after both of you as well. And I… I needed someone to look after again."

She stopped talking and swallowed back the hitch in her throat, "I had a younger brother before the invasion and he…"

She smiled faintly as the Prince trembled slightly, "Sayoko?" When he stopped she waited for him to collect his thoughts before he looked up with the fire now gone from his eyes and it being replaced by a pain that she could not understand, "Sayoko, can you please not call me Master anymore?"

Not letting her confusion of the request show, she smiled as best she could at the Prince, "I think I can do that. Now Breakfast?"

She was glad when the Prince's gaze cleared a little after that. They cooked breakfast together in silence, only broken once when Lelouch snorted when he saw her get out oranges to make orange juice. Though the entire time she could only wonder what had happened to change the young man beside her, because that change, though she could see it haunted him, was definitely for the better.

****G's G****

Nunnally could tell that it was her brother that had just entered the Dining room this morning, but was confused when she heard plates being placed on the table without Sayoko being present.

"Lelouch is that you? I missed you last night. You have never been out that late before, what happened?" She couldn't stop the questions when she started.

She smiled when he chuckled at her before answering, "I'm perfectly ok Nunnally there is no need for you or Sayoko to worry so about me."

She frowned at her brother, she could hear it in his voice the slightest of trembles at the end of his words that he always had when he was lying to make her feel better.

"I may have gone on a trip with Rivalz off campus yesterday and got separated. I had to find my own way back." Lelouch told her, though she could hear a slight catch in his voice. It was odd and she really could not place ever hearing it before.

"Big brother you have to stop going out and playing those games with him. One of these days you are going to get yourself into a terrible mess."

"You know I'm the older sibling right. You don't really need to be giving me life advice you know?" She couldn't help but smile as he teased her back.

"Well big brother if you're the older sibling shouldn't you be the more mature one." She smiled, knowing her brother's face would look like he had been slapped even if she could not see it.

****G's G****

Milly hurried through the crisp morning air as she raced towards the Student Council building before classes would start.

She had gotten a call yesterday from Rivalz telling her all about how he had lost Lelouch after a near miss accident had forced a truck to go off the road and Lelouch had gone to investigate. When Rivalz got back she had expected Lelouch to be with him but Rivalz had just been annoyed that Lelouch got out of helping him get back to campus before heading home.

She had waited for Lelouch to get home or call to say he was ok, but there had been no such call or anything.

So despite the fact that her grandfather seemed to think she was just being nosey and that she needed to relax she was racing over to see if Lelouch was actually ok.

Throwing open the door she rushed for the 'Lamperouge Wing' of the student council building, only for her eyes to widen as she saw Lelouch who seemed to have jumped back from the wildly opening door. Unable to stop her momentum she crashed into him, tumbling to the ground in a tangled pretzel of limbs.

Using her one partially free arm she grabbed Lelouch close, "I'm so glad your safe Lelouch I was worried when you didn't come back with Rivalz."

She rested her head on his shoulder as she lay there for a moment as Lelouch wrapped his left arm around her, his right hand she could feel was trapped between their chests, but she ignored it as she took comfort in the embrace.

Lelouch however chuckled, "I'm fine Milly."

When she pulled her head back to glare at him he continued, "No really I am. There was no reason for you to worry. Though I have to say if Shirley finds you on top of me like this you might have a reason to worry."

Slightly shocked that Lelouch would actually take part in teasing someone, something he usually consumed a lot of energy avoiding having any part in such activities no matter the circumstances, she actually took a moment to reply.

With a wicked smirk she pulled away slowly, "Are you sure she would be mad at me, her amazing Student President, or would she be mad at the deviant Vice President that was feeling her up?"

She smiled when Lelouch choked on his own reply. That did not happen often, really only when Nunnally or she got to throw teases back and forth with him.

Looking at him over she just knew that something had changed within him though she could not put her finger on what. Lelouch had been with her almost her entire life. When Lelouch and Nunnally showed up all three of them had been a mess. Nunnally had her disabilities on top of a deep seeded fear of being abandoned. Lelouch had his own demons to deal with, his anger at his family, his fear of losing Nunnally and what he had done during the invasion. She had been inconsolable because of her parents. They might have called her Grandfather to check in on her but her own parents had not come back after the invasion to check on her for almost three years, and even then only stayed for a few days before returning to the homeland.

During the last seven years she had grown to rely on Lelouch and Nunnally as she knew they in their own ways relied on her and while they might be different ages she was closer to them then anyone other than her grandfather.

That's why the relaxed expression she had never seen before on Lelouch's face made her so happy. She had more than one long talk with him during his time here trying to get him to really relax and lighten up.

She bit back a frown as she wondered how it happened though, and couldn't help but feel a pit forming in her stomach that she realized she would forever deny was jealousy.

****G's G****

Darius looked at the walls he was driving between and could not help but feel unnerved. He had been working as a truck driver for the military for almost twenty years and for the former Prince Clovis's special research project for the last five. He had never had to drive beneath the gridwork before though.

That was his job though, and when General Bartley had called in all ten truck drivers this morning they had only muttered about the time of the call. At least until they had found out why.

A complete evacuation of the entire lab had been called for, the why was still a bit sketchy but the effort was already well underway when he got there. They had pulled out ten eighteen wheelers to get everything out in one go.

Most of the trucks had already been loaded and some of the other drivers were already leaving. Some were sent to different OSI scattered around Hoshu mostly with random pieces of lab equipment. Three trucks were sent to the base in the Narita Mountains with all of the military equipment the scientists were working on. And he was going to some secret base underneath Tokyo itself, and it was close.

He looked at his instructions and back up at where he was as he stopped the truck. There was one off shot to the left but he would never make it in this confined of a hallway so he popped out of his cab to see what they had for offloading. They were going to need something like a jack or some such machine, to move that Knightmare as it was huge. Turning the corner he instantly focused on the two lavender orbs right in front of him barely noticing the person they were attached too as they flashed red...


	4. Pouring the Foundation

Ok before we begin I have something I need to say. I will be creating quite a few people when I want the perspective for a point of view where it is impossible to use a pre-established character or too progress the narrative. . MOST of these will not really matter and likely will never be seen again… You will just have to wait for those that do matter to show up again to know who they are.

Just another friendly reminder that I own nothing within the Code Geass Universe people :)

Chapter 3: Pouring the Foundation

Captain Smaldone jumped up from his desk when he heard the distinctly familiar sound of an explosion, which was followed by the building itself shaking. It may have been a few years since he had moved from his sea command of the Perseus Amphibious Landing Unit to his present post at the Minamiizu Naval Base in Area 11, but he had by no means gotten rusty.

He drew sidearm as he leaned against the wall of his office carefully looking through his window in the direction of the blast.

He vaguely heard the door to his office open as he tried to take in what he could see outside. How could an attack like this happen? How could have that many explosives have gotten onto his base?

He could clearly make out the slagged remains of some kind of vehicle parked on the pier, next to the Imperial Edmund, a Type 45 Destroyer. And next to where the vehicle had been was a large gaping hole in the ship.

He vaguely heard his aid behind him, "Sir. we have a transport coming around front for-"

Shooting the rule-bound fool a glare he started making his way to the door, "Get whoever is running things at the consulate on the phone, I want them to get a full briefing on what happened here, and get into contact with Pacific Fleet Command and let them know what happened. I want Admiral Stonewall to know what happened as soon as whichever fool is in control at the consulate now does. Is that understood?"

Not waiting for a reply he grabbed his cover as he made his way towards the explosion site. He wanted answers and he wanted them yesterday.

****G's G****

Shirley couldn't help it as she almost ran to chemistry class. It wasn't that she really liked the Chem lab, but it was the first class of the day that she shared with Lulu and she was desperately worried about him. Although She had seen him already today and she knew he looked ok, she couldn't stop worrying about him. She had heard from Milly that he never made it home last night, and she knew he gambled so she couldn't help that she was worried that something serious might have actually happened.

Spotting the target of her worry and her not so small crush, though she could never let him know that, she called out, "Lelouch! Lelouch, wait up!"

She felt her face heat up a little when he turned and gave her an odd smile, "Do you need something Shirley?"

Coming up alongside him she gave him a once over just to make sure he was ok, then realizing that she might be construed as checking Lulu out she stammered, "I heard from Rivalz what happened yesterday, and Madam Pres said that you never came home last night so I just wanted to make sure that you were ok and that-"

She cut herself off when Lulu gave a long suffering sigh, "I am going to have to talk to those two about creating unfounded rumors."

Taken aback she started to feel embarrassed, "But Milly seemed really worried about you. She wouldn't lie about that. Would she?"

Lulu shook his head, "Well no she wouldn't but I did make it home last night. It was just really late."

"But you're ok right?"

He chuckled softly, "Yes I'm fine Shirley. There is absolutely no reason to worry."

She couldn't stop herself as she blurted, "Then what really happened?"

She was slightly surprised when Lulu wrapped an arm around her shoulders and started leading her to class, "I'll explain after classes, we wouldn't want to be late now would we?"

As he started leading her towards their class she had to gather herself so she did not pass out from Lulu touching her. When she looked up at him though she saw it, a slight shimmer in his eyes that almost looked like the wetness of a tear.

****G's G****

Taichi Yagami couldn't help but feel like all this arguing was completely pointless, but then again since his 'promotion' he had found that arguing was all the long time members on the Blood of the Samurai Command Council ever did. Yeah, he might be a new member of the Command Council, but even he could tell when a Britannian transport truck pulled up at the front door of your base they knew where you were hiding. Something which was nothing but bad news for everyone in the Blood of the Samurai.

Suddenly one of the regular resistance members came running in, "We found something you have to see in the cab of the truck." She was frantically waving an envelope in the air above her head.

Deciding not to let this become long winded again he asked the question he had most wanted the answer to since the council had decided they needed to meet about the truck, "What was the contents of the truck?"

The young lady hesitated for just a moment and he could feel some of the council move to interfere, but she recovered before they could. "I have no idea what most of it is Sir. However, Shen has confirmed that most of what's in there is high grade medical equipment ranging from lab and research equipment to basic pharmaceuticals."

He sat back to think as the girl passed off the envelope to some member of the council while explaining how she found it.

None of this made much sense to him. The truck had arrived earlier and the driver had had no idea what was going on. According to him, his commander sent him to what was suppose to be a Britannian OSI command post, not to their base. A truck which by happenstance was full of medical equipment, something that they and every resistance group in Japan was desperately in need of, no matter who or where they were.

His musings were cut short when Ishida called for him, "Yagami will you be wanting to read the letter or are you just going to imagine what it might say?"

Ignoring the insult he looked up to see the letter waiting in front of him and many angry and perturbed faces at the table.

 _Members of the Blood of the Samurai. While it has not been announced yet, during the defense of Shinjuku Prince Clovis was killed. With the death of the viceroy there is a small window where the Britannian forces will be in disarray. Use this to your advantage, as soon Princess Cornelia will be arriving to replace her late brother. Her first objective will be to destroy any and all resistance groups in Japan. This leaves you in a difficult situation as the only major resistance group that the Britannian military currently has a definitive location for is you. As this predicament is my fault I feel I must at least offer a warning and the promise of aid if you so wish for it._

 _-Zero_

Well that was a lot to think about. It did however explain some of the reports he had seen in the last twenty four hours indicating that the Britannian forces were confused and not at all the oiled machine they usually were.

Placing the letter down Ishida addressed him again, "And what does our newest member think of the letter?"

Choosing his words carefully, "Most of the recent reports from our people and from other resistance groups has shown disorder and disorganization within the Britannian military. We can only speculate as to the cause but it could be explained by the death of Prince Clovis. I believe that the contents of the truck should be delivered to Kyoto house, we could use the equipment but we lack the ability to make sure that everything is safe to use like Kyoto does. As for this warning, well that's a whole different matter. The smart thing to do would be to shore up our defenses. Then if it is proven both that Prince Clovis was killed in Shinjuku and that Princess Cornelia will become the new Viceroy of Japan, we can reevaluate the danger we are in and make plans accordingly."

As usual most of the table was sneering at him, and Ishida glowered, "So nothing intelligent then."

Taichi rubbed the bridge of his nose and not for the first time wished that his success as a team leader had not reached the point where these old fools decided he needed to join the council to avoid him causing fractures within the group.

****G's G****

C.C. pulled the pillow closer to her as sat at Lelouch's computer. It was in all honesty a sad situation but without her Cheese-kun or Lelouch to snuggle with she just had to make do.

She had managed to get back to sleep after Lelouch had left for classes, a good thing for the boy for if not he would have heard it for waking her up so early. She had spent almost the entire last hour she was awake at Lelouch's desk looking through his computer, on his hidden profile of course.

His browser history showed absolutely nothing of interest and she couldn't help but be disappointed that there was nothing juicy there to tease Lelouch about. Well except the large quantity of Pizza hut and Cheese-kun merchandise he had looked at this morning. She was rather proud of herself that she had not opened and looked at all of the connected websites. Well except the local Pizza Hut delivery menu, but that was completely different. Besides she was going to have to order lunch soon anyway.

The frustrating thing was that besides not getting anything to tease the boy about she still had no idea what his immediate plans were. There had been nothing on the computer and, despite her checking all of them, nothing in any of his notebooks apart from schoolwork. There was nothing there that she had not already seen in the boy's memories.

Yet she knew he had been up all morning working out plans which left her wondering where everything of importance was. It was all quite frustrating.

Her search for answers was ended however when the door to their bedroom swung open, and in stepped Sayoko. She could remember that she and Sayoko had a good relationship of sorts from the boy's memories, or at least that they got along.

The older Japanese woman stopped as soon as she entered the room, immediately focusing on her. The ninja took in her state of dress, one of Lelouch's button up shirts loosely buttoned, the pillow she was holding and her posture, leaning back in the chair one leg dangling off and the other resting on the chair forcing the hem of Lelouch's shirt to ride up her leg, "If the young mistress would like something to wear I believe I can find something of a comfortable fit."

Somehow she knew this was a test as she studied the older woman, "Clothes would be very much appreciated…" she cast a glance at the piled up prisoner outfit and shook her head. "Please don't get rid of that though, I believe that Lelouch might have some use for it sometime later."

As Sayoko raised one delicate eyebrow in response to that she smiled sultrily, "You know I wasn't thinking about that, but I will make sure that it is recommended that he tie someone up in it for their mutual enjoyment as well sometime."

Sayoko's lips quirked into a slight smirk, "I'm not so sure the young master would enjoy something like that."

She couldn't stop the grin that formed on her face, "Well it's not all about him now is it?"

The Ninja maid chuckled lightly before becoming serious, "The young master impressed upon me while I assisted him this morning that you have his complete confidence and that I should feel no qualms about leaving this in here while he is away."

Looking at the hard drive in Sayoko's hands she decided to be lazy, "Any chance you could tell me what is on that without me having to waste time looking?"

Sayoko just shrugged in response as she lay the hard-drive on the desk, "I myself don't know what is on here."

As Sayoko turned to leave she interrupted, "You should stay."

When Sayoko turned to regard her curiously she continued, "You want to keep Lelouch safe right?"

At Sayoko's eyes narrowed at the perceived challenge she explained, "So it would be better to know what he is doing right?"

Sayoko nodded ever so slightly, eyes still narrowed as she moved to stand behind the chair in silence. Hoping that she had not messed that up too badly with the woman, she hooked up the hard-drive to the computer.

A few windows opened across the screen and closing most of them she expanded the window file for the drive and was shocked by what was there; inventories of trucks, itineraries of important individuals, military bases defense plans, their complete inventories and vehicle counts, lists of personnel for every base, listing of terrorist groups, maps of terrorist activities, maps of possible terrorist base locations and dossiers of every Britannian over the ranks of Major, Squadron Leader, or Lieutenant commander. As she scrolled through the window she could see it covered everyone and everyplace involved with either the rebel groups or military in Japan.

Then they came to the end and found three folders rather than files.

One was labeled Code-R, the second was labeled Confirmation Codes, and the last was labeled Letters Sent.

All she could do was stare at how much Lelouch had managed to do in such a short amount of time and couldn't help but wonder how he had managed to aquire this.

Sayoko finally broke the silence, "Open the Code-R folders."

As she turned to regard the woman Sayoko continued speaking, "Some of the things we off loaded from the truck were from that and I would like to know what they are. Like that odd spherical machine."

Turning slowly to click on the folder absently filing away that Lelouch now had at least the prototype of the Siegfried, she couldn't help but sigh when the first file in the folder was a pictured labeled Test Subject.

She heard a small gasp from behind her and felt Sayoko's hand fall on her shoulder before a moment of silence. Then Sayoko said in a gentle voice, "We can look at something else if you wish."

Looking back at the picture of herself bruised and beaten hanging from chains against the wall, she felt not just the anger and annoyance she expected but something else that she could not put her finger on, it was not a feeling she remembered having very often.

Her voice when she answered was more steady than Sayoko was expecting from the slight tensing of her hand at any rate, "That might be a good idea, there are things here that it would be best if Lelouch helped explain."

Slowly hitting the back button she clicked on a random dossier and started to scan the file.

****G's G****

Lelouch was exhausted when he finally made his way to his room that evening, both in a physical and emotional sense. His talks with C.C. and Sayoko had set the tone for the day, and seeing Nunnally and Shirley alive again hadn't helped. The emotional toll of seeing them was very distressing.

That had been nothing on the energy it took to work through the day, as while he did everything he would need to do for school he was setting everything up for his first meeting with the future Black Knights, going over everything that could be done to unite the resistance groups under one banner and proceed with his 'new' plan for how he thought things would unfold. To top it all off there was what he was doing for the Student Council.

He knew tomorrow was the day the Council was going to have to balance the school budget like they had to do everytime at the last minute because Milly decided to just do it herself, the girl really had no concept of numbers or money. Milly had been forced to admit the problem today when she got everyone together near the end of the day.

It had been so easy to reconnect with Rivalz and Milly, both were so different in who they were and who they knew him as, and yet still they were two of his dearest and closest friends. It, however, had not been easy seeing Nina again, the girl that he had considered a friend, the girl that created the bomb that killed Nunnally and so many others. That could not be allowed to happen this time, he couldn't decide what to do about her, but the F.R.E.J.A. weapon would not exist again.

There had been an extra topic discussed at the 'meeting' today, and with only a little bit of prodding he had convinced Milly that Kallen needed to become a part of Student Council so that she was getting involved in some student activity.

He had not anticipated that Kallen would be so annoyed about being 'forced' to join a club, and as Milly had been there to discuss it he had not been able to tell her about the tunnels and access level available to her if she joined. There was nothing he could do about it, besides it would be a while until he was willing to reveal himself to her anyway.

After school had been dismissed he had sought out the same noble that he had won the Black Knight's marvelous hideout from last time and set it up again for when he brought Oghi and the rest to meet him. He had only just made it for a late dinner with his sister, then spent the rest of the night with her and Sayoko. He figured he would make the phone call to Kallen planning the meeting after he showered.

Though there had been something odd going on for sure. Sayoko kept giving him weird looks. He just assumed that he would find out when he talked to C.C. She was the only one that could have caused any form of chaos like Sayoko being emotionally confused this early in changing the timeline.

Finally reaching his room and pushing open the door he was greeted with what he considered a peculiar sight, his bedding was not out. C.C. was fast asleep in his bed cuddling with her Cheese-kun plush toy with his little black top hat. As he made his way over the linen closet in his room he smiled at what he saw. There on top of the extra sheet and pillows was a smaller Cheese-chan he had ordered for her as well, and attached to her pink bow was a note.

 _I thank you for going to get bedding for yourself last night Lelouch, as it would have been most distressful to wake up next to you in the morning. I however have spent today cataloging your memories, I feel as if you know me well enough to be able to use your bed. It is not like we have not slept together before. However, in the morning make time for us to have a deep discussion about matters, I have looked over what you have done so far and while I am impressed I am also worried._

A little miffed that she seemed to think that he could not handle himself, he still walked into his bathroom unable to get the smile that formed on his face off as he went to take a shower before making his phone call before going to give his witch something else to cuddle with tonight. Looking back into the linen closet he grabbed Cheese-chan and put her on the desk to remember for later. It was only fair that if C.C. cuddled someone else that Cheese-kun did not feel lonely as well.

****G's G****

He sat down on an old park bench in a small park in Pendragon where he could watch the children play and spend time with their parents and siblings. It hurt like someone had taken his heart, and twisted it inside of a vice, Rolo mused. V.V. had told him this morning that he had a new mission and would be leaving in two days. Some lesser nobleman that had been caught backing the EU had run off to Russia, and now he needed to disappear. He had been informed that would be able to hitch a ride on the Princesses' air transport to Area 11 for the start of his journey, after that he was on his own.

He was their killer, it was his job, but that did not stop him from wanting more. Now however he knew just how he could do it, how he could prove himself.

He had decided he would not go to Russia after the wayward nobleman, no, he had a much more important thing to accomplish first.

Located in Area 11 was his ticket to being accepted, loved, a part of something more.

A sly grin formed on his face as he walked back towards the Geass Sanctum of Britannia, located in Pendragon. This time when he returned he would be welcomed, he would love him. All he needed was Lelouch Vi Britannia, a wanted son of the emperor, and he knew where to find him. Soon he would be on his way to Ashford Academy and there was nothing that would stop him.

He couldn't help but wonder what V.V. would do if he knew what was about to happen right under his childish button nose.

****G's G****

Kallen lay in bed thinking about how frustrating that boy was, just your average Britannian superiority complex coming through because why else would he think he could make decisions for her? She had no desire to waste her time on some stupid Student Council, she had important things to actually accomplish.

That boy Lelouch, he was infuriating. How could someone that had according to rumor lost so much to Britannia's actions still be a proud Britannian. It was sycophants like that that made her sick. Especially with his sister as a living reminder of what happened.

Her angry musing was interrupted by her phone going off. Without second thought she answered, assuming that it was Oghi.

"I have a mission for you, Q1."

Her breath caught in her throat before she could even speak. The voice from Shinjuku was on the phone, meaning it had somehow gotten a hold of her number.

Unable to respond coherently she sputtered for a few moments before Zero cut in, "I am simply requesting a formal meeting with you and the leaders of the Shinjuku resistance cell tomorrow. A way of sounding each other out so to speak. The meeting will be at Warehouse B7 at the Eastern Waterfront after nightfall."

Finally getting her voice to work she blurted, "Why?"

Only to growl in frustration, as the line had already gone dead.

****G's G****

Tohdoh looked at the letter in his hand then back up at General Katase in mild confusion, "You are certain that this was addressed to me General?"

He tried to ignore the sour look on the general's face as Katase replied, "Yes, it was your name typed on each of the envelopes that we found in the back of each of the four trucks, prominently displayed so that we could easily see it before we offloaded the supplies within."

Tohdoh looked back down at the letter again, "And nothing was found on the letters that can trace where they came from? Or who sent the trucks?"

Katase snorted, " The letters are completely clean. We know the Trucks came from around Tokyo settlement area that's about it."

Looking at the letter again he tried to understand who had written this and way, it made no sense.

There staring back at him were just five simple words in English, but he could not understand them at all. What Britannian could have written this?

"General I would like to think on this, and try to see if I can figure out who this might be. By your leave?"

As Katase waved his hand in dismissal he placed the letter on the table so anyone could read it. On it was one simple sentence, "My debt is not forgotten."


	5. The Alliance Forms

Sorry this took so long everyone.

Well now everyone please review, those review are the lifeblood of us us writers that illustrate what you thought about where we are going or highlight what we should explain more.

As per usual… I do not own any part of the Code Geass universe if I did, well things would have been very different.

Chapter 4: The Alliance Forms

Lelouch reveled in the sensation of waking up with C.C.'s lithe body cuddled up on top of him. One of her arms was wrapped around him, the other splayed out to the side, while her head rested on his chest like her own personal pillow; it was by far the cutest thing he had ever seen her do. Lifting his hand, he gently trailed his finger up and down her spine while trying all the while not to wake her. He couldn't help it, but he was loath to wake her despite both of them wanting to have this discussion, she just looked so at peace and he knew that this was not a common occurrence for her...

She shifted ever so slightly, arching her back so she was pushing herself into his side and crooned a faint purr. A smile tugged at the corners of his lips as he placed a tender kiss on C.C.'s brow.

Looking over at his alarm clock, he sighed in annoyance. He knew he was going to have to wake her up if they were going to have this talk. It didn't matter that he did not want to disturb the sleeping beauty lying in bed with him; as content as she looked now she would be very cross with him later if he didn't.

Stopping his ministrations, he rested his hand on the small of her back and drew her closer, whispering in her ear just loud enough to wake her: "Come on, Witch. You wanted a chance to talk to me, you know." The most uncharacteristic giggle escaped him when she reacted by snuggling closer to him. He idly wondered if his smile could actually split his face in two given how large it was getting.

Pressing his advantage, even if it was playing a little dirty, he pulled her closer and whispered in a mocking, sultry tone, "Come my love; if we don't get this talk out-of-the-way I will not leave you a credit card for pizza." His breath caught in his throat as C.C. spun and pinned him to the bed faster than he could comprehend, her knees holding his chest down while her hands immobilized his shoulders. The look of umbrage on her face caused him to dissolve into hysterics.

He knew the tables had completely 'turned' on him. There was even a glint of mischief in her eyes as she growled out, "There is no excuse for threats like that, boy." Her eyes sparkled like gems, challenging him to interrupt her. "As penance you will have to give me a kiss, Lelouch Vi Britannia." Stifling his laughter, Lelouch awkwardly stretched his neck out to kiss her, as she was still pinning him and seemed to enjoy giving him a challenge he could not complete. She kept her lips just out of reach, playfully taunting him, the coy look on her face making him feel as if he were intoxicated.

Suddenly and without warning the door burst open. Milly Ashford's commanding voice cut through the fog which had fallen on Lelouch's mind as she yelled, "Lelouch, I need you to get down to the clubroom! We need to…" Her voice trailed off as she stared dumbstruck at the sight before her. Milly blushed a deeper red then Kallen's hair and stammered, "I-I'm sorry Lu-Lelouch, I'll just leave you alone this morning." He could just barely make out his age-old friend as she took off in full retreat, slamming the door behind her as she fled.

With a sigh C.C. sat back onto Lelouch's lap, before scrambling to his side and uttering an embarrassed squeak. Lelouch sat stock-still, with a blush he was sure was causing his entire body to glow like the radiant wave from the Guren and a powerful urge to bang his head against a wall.

****G's G****

Jeremiah let out an exhausted sigh as he slumped in his chair in the meeting room. It had been thirty eight hours since Prince Clovis had been killed and everything just kept getting worse.

His investigation had only just gotten started when disaster had struck. First there was the truck that exploded at Minamiizu Naval Base crippling the Imperial Edmund.

Then reports had come in that a similar truck had exploded at King George's Airfield destroying seven of their VTOLs.

That had been immediately followed by another report from King George's Army base where the airfield was located saying that at almost the same time a truck bomb had gone off next to one of their hangars bringing the entire structure down. While the damage to what was inside was still not fully known, there had been ten Sutherlands inside as well as thirty people. The Knightmares could be repaired but initial reports had twelve people dead, thirteen with varying degrees of injury, four in critical condition, and one still unaccounted for.

After that they had managed to get out the warning of what to watch for in time to catch the last attempt at the gate of St. Michael's Airbase as the driver tried to enter the front gates. That's when things had gotten worse. They had managed to apprehend the driver who had no idea what was going on or why he was being arrested but as the base's staff was bringing him into lockup the gate's security along with bomb squad had opened the rear of the truck. The resulting explosion had leveled the gate and surrounding defenses, as well as scaring the driver out of his mind from shock in such a way that Jeremiah was forced to admit the blubbering idiot had no idea what was going on with the truck bombings. The man however had known where the trucks had been sent from, as well as that it had been General Bartley that had sent them.

A quick strike force lead by him had left for the base's location immediately, only to run across multiple fire trucks on route to the same location. In the beginning the water was evaporating before coming into contact with the flames. That was not to unexpected with what they learned later from the forensic reports.

It seemed that someone wanted nothing from that base to ever see the light of day, and that included the researchers. Twenty bodies had been found in the remains of a back room, bodies burned in most cases beyond recognition so they were now trying to identify them from dental records. There had been two other bodies near what was believed to be the ignition source of the fire, well not really bodies as the fire had burned them down to the bone in most places, that was however what happens when the accelerant of the fire is Sakuradite. However, with dental records they had identified one of the bodies as Bartley.

While this was happening, basic forensics on the trucks had shown that the first six feet of the cargo space had been sectioned off by a dummy wall to have a concealed space. This space had been packed to the brim with plastic explosives set to detonate when the rear door of the truck was opened. It was so simple it was actually rather ingenious and he had made an instant memo to the President of the Britannian officer Academy to see that scenario be included in their anti terrorism briefs. It was something new and he couldn't think of a way to prevent it from happening, so he was hoping that their staff could.

All of these problems had culminated to where they were now, with him and Kewell meeting so they could come up with a plan.

His musing however were cut off when Kewell demanded, "Have you made any actual progress on any front Gottwald?"

Sighing at his subordinates tone, "No. It's looking more and more like Bartley was behind all of this, but we have no evidence of it. Add onto that the destruction of the base, and Bartley's apparent suicide our investigation is back at square one."

Kewell rolled his eyes, "And have you followed protocol and come up with an appropriate back up plan?"

He blinked at that. Yes it was protocol within the purist faction that if a high ranking officer died and the culprit was not easily identified the blame was to be placed on the appropriate person to help facilitate the goals of the purists, but this was not some high ranking officer this was royalty. "Kewell you are out of line. Prince Clovis was Royalty you can't just ignore-"

"I thought not. You always were too idealistic Jeremiah. However, I have realized exactly how to deal with that." After interrupting him Kewell got up and knocked on the door.

The door flung open and four officers stormed into the room and Kewell grinned evilly at him, "It's time that the Purists took back their own organization Jeremiah. You will hereby be charged with regicide and treason, for the good of Britannia you will be found guilty with minimal fuss and executed in the courtroom."

***G's G****

Shirley was pacing the Student Council room waiting for the two people missing. Well really three but Milly had only left to get Lelouch. Rivalz and Nina sat at the table going over the paperwork Milly had left behind about the budget problems. Milly had gone on her errand to get Lelouch a while ago, a job which Shirley had wanted to do. The other missing person was Kallen, although she was on her way and would be at the meeting room in a few minutes, as Kallen herself had told Milly when she called her. When those two finally arrived it would be time to balance the annual budget. If the budget wasn't finished before the day's classes they'd all be in for it, and Shirley couldn't allow something like that to tarnish her sterling record.

She whipped around when the door opened but sighed in exasperation when she saw that it wasn't Lelouch. Instead Kallen stepped into the room and made her way over to a vacant seat. Taking a good look at her Shirley was a little concerned. She knew Kallen was sick often but right now she looked like hell, tired and drawn out as if she hadn't gotten any sleep.

Those thoughts were immediately pushed out of her mind as Milly, blushing hard and giggling like a drunken schoolgirl, stumbled into the room.

Rivalz spoke first, "What's so funny Madame Pres.?"

The Ashford Student Council President's eyes twinkled with mischief, a sign that Shirley knew meant bad news for someone. Milly calmed herself down enough to answer, "Well everyone, let's get to work. Lelouch is preoccupied at present and will unfortunately not be able to join us at the moment."

Shirley was confused and annoyed, both at Lelouch for bailing on them and at Milly for dodging the question. However, as she was also determined to get the job done properly and efficiently, she snapped to attention with an energetic, "Aye aye, Madame President!"

They had just divided up the clubs that everyone would be working on when Lelouch walked into the room calmly as if he wasn't late at all, making her "humph" at his audacity.

"What would you like me to do Madame President?" he asked as he dropped into the seat across from her. Milly's smile at that point would have caused lesser men to flee, Shirley noted.

"I believe you should start on the outdoor clubs," Milly responded. "I'm sorry for interrupting you this morning." Milly's coy tone caused everyone to turn to Lelouch.

Shirley's mind went into a frenzy, imagining all the things Milly may have seen Lelouch doing that would've caused her to act that way. The feeling of jealousy that welled up every time another girl talked about her Lulu reared up inside her.

Lelouch stiffened before smiling, "There's need to worry Madame President. In all honesty, it's probably for the best. If you hadn't shown up, who knows if I would have managed to get to class?"

Shirley starred as Milly blinked owlishly; she couldn't help but shake an inexplicable fear about what her Lulu might have been doing.

****G's G****

Milly was rather perplexed by Lelouch. Not only had she caught him with a girl she had never met before this morning, but seemingly overnight he had stopped flushing red at her teasing. Even more intriguing was the fact that he was teasing her back as well.

That was nothing new though; Lelouch had always intrigued her, ever since she first met him after the invasion of Japan. It was one of the things that made drew her to him; his mysteriousness made her want to know everything about him.

After the meeting he had pulled her aside to 'have a private chat'. When she teased him about whether it would be like the chat she had interrupted earlier, he smirked, "I'm sorry Milly, as amazing as you are I don't think that would be a good idea. C.C. might..."

He had trailed off, lost in thought, until she tauntingly ran her hand down his chest. Snapping back to reality he playfully glared at her before asking her to keep what happened earlier secret Shirley would not be upset. She could understand; Shirley was practically obsessed with Lelouch, and everyone that knew Shirley inevitably picked up on it.

Whatever was going on, Milly knew one thing; she had to meet this C.C. and talk to her. Anyone that had such a positive effect on Lelouch was someone she needed to get to know, and maybe with that she would have something to really tease the boy with, or better yet someone to tease the boy alongside.

****G's G****

Odysseus tried to keep his frown in place and not let the smile that wanted to show from coming into existence. While he was as depressed about Clovis' death as the rest of his family, there was one golden lining to all of this. Clovis might have been older but this was the first time someone in the royal family had died since his younger sibling Lelouch and Nunnally, and it was a grim reminder of the preciousness and fragility of life even for those of royal blood.

And thus he looked over at the sofa he had in the corner of his office at his younger half sister Euphemia Li Britannia who had cried herself to sleep after they talked. With Cornelia out of the country fighting Euphie had turned to him when the news about Clovis had broke. It was moments like this where he got to help his younger siblings that he lived for.

It was probably one of the worst kept secrets within the court that he had no desire to be crown prince of Britannia. He just wanted to be able to help his younger siblings whenever they needed it, but with how they were raised not many ever came to him for anything. Out of the one hundred and eight-...

He shook his head at the thought. Out of the one hundred and seventeen younger siblings only about twenty ever came to him for help.

Shooting a glare at the paperwork he had to do in front of him, he couldn't stop all the thoughts from the back of his mind from making themselves known. That no matter what he did there was no escaping destiny. He was stuck in his position unable to do anything. He would be crown prince and his four immediate younger siblings at present would have all of the control over the country he would 'rule'; Schneizel with the Bureaucracy and his contacts within Foreign governments, Guinevere with the nobles, Cornelia with the army, and Jasper with the navy. And all of them would be able to make him do what they want, and he could not escape.

He jolted when the door flew open and little Mira Ja Britannia came running into the room aiming directly at him. He smiled sadly down at his little half sister before picking her up and holding her tightly as she cried. It was difficult trying to quiet her down enough to not wake Euphie, all the while trying to quiet the reminder in his head that there was no abdication in Britannia, only death.

****G's G****

C.C. frowned as Lelouch entered their bedroom, stopping for a moment to wonder when she had started thinking of it as such. The boy looked drained, more drained than when she saw him attempting to shoot up refrain in his own memories. She couldn't help but feel that she would be forever grateful that Kallen put a stop to that.

"Do we finally get to have the talk I desired, Lelouch?" Her frustration at how hard he was pushing himself seeped into her voice, despite her attempt to hide it.

Lelouch stopped and stared at her blankly, his mind seemingly empty until what she said clicked, "I'm sorry, C.C. I tried to arrive earlier but the Student Government and classes kept me away."

Her frown deepened, lips pursing into a thin line, "Lelouch, there is no need to overtax yourself. There are a lot of things that could go wrong right now. You need to play it safe, and make plans for your safety."

Lelouch's face softened, "Cera… You don't need to worry. I assure you that this time I'll keep everyone safe." He stopped talking for a moment, and she could tell he was trying to find the right words. She cocked an eyebrow, perplexed, until he finally said, "I need to know Cera. You won't tell her, will you?"

His question hurt her much more deeply than she expected. "I have no intentions of telling your mother on you, boy," she snapped, "but that does not mean none of them remember. What would you do if they remember how you ruined their plans for The Ragnarok Connection?"

She felt a fluttering in her stomach as he closed the distance to her and enveloped her in a hug, a comforting gesture somewhat marred by the boy's chuckling. Lelouch's voice was steady, if a bit bitter, when he answered her, "We needn't worry. If my father had remembered I doubt we'd be alive and having this conversation right now."

The fact that Lelouch could treat the fact that his father could have him killed with dismissal didn't surprise her. What did surprise her was the anger that bubbled up inside of her at the thought of Charles killing Lelouch.

She drew back from his embrace and looked him dead in the eyes. "I have seen what goes on inside that head of yours, you wouldn't just dismiss this, Lelouch. What are you planning?", she demanded.

His smile vanished, and for a moment she feared she had again crossed a line she did not know about, "There's nothing I can really do… You, Sayoko and myself all know what's happening for the most part. We're armed as best as we can be. I…"

As his voice trailed off, she couldn't help but notice the confidence he had been expressing earlier was a much greater façade than she realized. Though she would usually respond to a situation like this with sarcasm, she knew it was wholly inappropriate in this particular situation. Not knowing what to actually do or say to help, she kept quiet and simply held him.

She felt a pang in her chest when Lelouch released her and walked away to gaze out the window. After what seemed like ages he finally spoke, "I know that's what you wanted to talk about but I don't know what else I can do. Besides, I have the meeting with Ohgi and the others later to worry about as well. It's just… what else can I do about it? If you have something else that would be great, but..."

Relieved that the steel determination was back in his voice, she warily voiced her other concern, "Are you really determined to tell them about Geass? It is not something that just anyone should know about."

He turned to look at her again, "I will not let what happened last time due to my brother's interference happen again." He spat out the word brother as though it were poison, "However, as usual you are correct. No, I will have to limit which of my future Black Knights know to only those that were truly the core last time; Ohgi, Kallen, and Minami are definite; Ohgi can decide on the rest."

"And Tamaki?", she asked, quirking an eyebrow in curiosity as she knew how close the two friends once were.

Lelouch just shook his head, "More importantly, I need you to get to work on acquiring those contact lenses that I used last time. I don't want what happened last time to happen again when I need to use or not use my Geass."

Noticing the haunted look that flashed across his face, she was quick to agree. At that they lapsed into a comfortable silence. Finally Lelouch seemed to have enough as he walked over and grabbed her hand, "Come, I need to eat before I go off to see Oghi."

"I thought you said you wanted a simple family dinner tonight?" she stammered, feeling oddly flustered.

She was sure Lelouch could hear her heart speed up given how hard it was pounding. He smiled at her, "I did. So of course you're required to be there, Cera. This time I feel that I need to formally introduce you to Nunnally, rather than you hint to her that you are my intended."

****G's G****

Nunnally ran her fingers along the crisp folds of the paper crane that Sayoko had showed her how to make. She had made a few of her own, and though she really wanted to show them to Lelouch she knew they didn't look nearly as good as the one Sayoko made.

She had gotten used to it over the years, having to rely on others to do so many basic things. She couldn't bring herself to get mad at Sayoko and Lelouch for everything they did for her, but she knew deep inside she resented everything about her restricted life. That was why she would fold the cranes.

Sayoko had explained the legend of the folded cranes to her. If someone were to fold one thousand paper cranes they would receive one wish. She knew her wish was selfish; she always dreamed of a world at peace in which everyone was nice to one another. As much as she wanted to, however, she couldn't use her wish on that. She would do anything to be able to see Lelouch again, to run up and hug him. It had been so long since she could see that she could barely remember what her brother looked like all those years ago.

The sound of footsteps from the hallway reached her. She easily identified Lelouch's footfalls. There was another set of footfalls walking with him though, and she had no idea whose they were. Granted the only people she could actually identify by footsteps were Lelouch, Sayoko, and Milly, but it would be highly unlikely for Lelouch to come to dinner with anyone but those two.

Curious despite herself, she waited patiently, straining her ears to hear any clues as to who this person was before they entered the dining room.

She heard Lelouch stop just outside the door as another voice spoke up, "Are you sure this is a good idea, Lelouch?" the mystery person, now identified as a girl, asked.

The unknown girl's voice confused her. She was sure that Lelouch wasn't seeing anyone. The concern in the girl's voice bothered her; if Lelouch liked this girl, she had to be nice just like her big brother, so there was no reason that the mysterious girl would not be someone she could get along with. Her brother's voice cut through her thoughts as he comforted the girl with him, "C.C. you know you have nothing to worry about. Besides, I think it's high time I show you off to my little sister."

The idea that Lelouch might have a girlfriend was odd, but if it was true she would have to tease him about it, and maybe she would have to if he didn't have one as well.

As the door opened she smiled in its direction and cheerily greeted her brother, lifting up the crane that Sayoko made, "Look at what Lady Sayoko taught me how to make, Lelouch. It's a paper crane, and legend says if you make one thousand of them you can have a wish granted."

She could hear the smile in Lelouch's voice as he responded, something that seemed to be present only when talking to her, "And what would you wish for, sweet Lady Nunnally?"

As she heard Lelouch walking around the table she pondered how best to phrase her answer. She replied in a quiet voice, embarrassed about what she was saying, "I would wish that everything was back like it was before everything happen. With all of us together again as a family."

Lelouch was silent for a moment before he took her hand in his. As he started talking she could feel how tense he was, "Maybe someday we will see everyone that was our family again Nunnally. Until that time we have our own little family; you, me, Sayoko, Milly, even though we haven't seen him in forever Suzaku is family, and it will only get bigger."

What he said made her smile. Lelouch was always able to do that, make her smile no matter what she was feeling. He paused for a short moment. She felt his pulse speed up as she held his hand, "Nunnally I would like to introduce to you C.C., she's… Well, just think of her as the newest member of our family."

It took her a moment to process what her brother had said, but she figured that he meant this C.C. was going to be family like Milly and Sayoko, that was how her brother normally did things. So plastering a huge smile on her face she, as cute as possible and calmly as she could she asked, "Aren't you a little young to be getting married big brother?"

As she heard her brother's sputters and C.C.'s laughter ringing out like bells, she knew she was going like this girl. "It's been a long time since I've had an actual sister to talk to, maybe a sister-in-law would suffice," she proclaimed to the new girl while wearing what she thought should be trademarked as her childish grin.

****G's G****

Annabeth At Britannia kept her footfalls steady as she marched along the hall of the G1 base currently stationed in Kuwait which was the central command point for the entire invasion of the Middle Eastern Federation.

She had only just taken the port City of Muscat when she was ordered to return to the main force for an immediate meeting with her sister, the general in charge of subjugating the newly christened Area 18, Cornelia Li Britannia.

She couldn't help the little bit of worry she felt whenever she had to approach her older half sister. She had always wanted to be just like her older half sibling, and she had driven herself to be just as good as Cornelia at the expense of alienating her mother and most of her mother's family. All of her hard work was worth it though, she had managed to graduate from high school at fourteen and, after carefully asking her father if she could, she enrolled into The Academy of Noble Britannian Officers. She had excelled to the point that she graduated the four year program in only two. She knew that the only reason that she was allowed to graduate early was because she was Royalty. Her birth however did not have any affect on her placement, where she ranked fifth of of the fifty students within the class two years ahead of hers.

Her score was good enough to score a commanding position within the army invading the MEF, but then things had gotten annoying. At first it was just the occasional snide comment but now it seemed to be a standing joke within the command that she was playing the part of Cornelia, trying to imitate her and in the end would never measure up to the original.

She had spent so much time wanting to lash out and put them in their place, but what then? She would be just another pampered princess playing soldier. So she would scowl and bear it as she continued to prove time and time again that she is every bit as brilliant as her sister. She would gain their respect, all of them from the lowliest foot soldier to the highest General, and maybe then her sister would acknowledge her skills.

As the doors to the bridge slide open in front of her she slowly scanned the unusually chaotic movement of those present to to try find her older sister.

After a few moments of scanning the mob a man she identified as one of her sister's aids, whose name she could not remember, came over to her, "Princess Annabeth, Princess Cornelia left me here to explain what will be happening over the next few hours. Princess Cornelia has been called back by Pendragon to quell an uprising in Area 11, and as per the Emperor's orders you will now be taking control of all active Britannian forces within what will be Area 18 in Princess Cornelia's absence."

It took her a moment to process what he was saying as she began to walk towards the central command display table, "Then give me the full rundown of where everything stands now. I know I just took Muscat which clears up the last major resistance point in the south, but how are the rest of our forces fairing?"

The aid gave a curt nod, "For the most part our forces are having difficulty matching our enemy forces mobility and it has slowed momentum. While normally the Sutherlands would be much more mobile than the enemy's forces, the enemy has created a something that allows their Knightmares to not get bogged down in the sand and are relying much more on tanks which while less effective are able to move across this accursed sand with ease."

She nodded her head while trying to not let her exasperation show, she was well aware of this problem. Everyone fighting was aware of that actually.

"Princess Cornelia has taken it upon herself to deliver the final push and take Baghdad before she leaves for Area 11."

She actually froze mid step at that. She knew it was not meant as such, as it was Cornelia, but taking the Capital would leave the rest of the MEF forces in complete disarray, and change this entire fight into nothing but a clean up project.

Trying not to sigh in frustration at the fact this possible chance to prove herself had just gone down the drain she couldn't help but ask, "And will my sister be returning after the fight or is the situation in Area 11 so urgent that she must leave straight from the field?"

She studied the map for a moment waiting for a response until the quiet got too much for her and she looked up to see most of the command structure looking at her in confusion, worry, and a healthy share of sympathy. Finally the aid spoke up, "I was unaware you had not heard Princess, I was informed that Princess Cornelia was to tell you before you arrived here. Your brother Prince Clovis was killed during an urban renewal project within the ghettos near the Consulate building in Area 11."

Her breath hitched as she stared at the man's eyes wondering how this could happen. She had never been really close to her half brother but…

And for no one to tell her anything?

She knew that while she idolized her half sister, Cornelia really didn't show her much attention, but to not even tell her? Did the blood they shared mean nothing? Was she suppose to just not act like it mattered? Why?

Clearing her throat, ignoring the looks those present were giving her she pushed it all down as she focused again on the map.

Blinking away the tears she could feel forming she asked, "What are the current plans for after Baghdad is taken? I would like to see how this earlier then expected move will change the course of the invasion?"

****G's G****

As he rode the outbound train to the docks, where he had arranged for his first meeting with Ohgi and the Shinjuku rebels to take place for this timeline, Lelouch went over everything that had happened today during and after dinner in his head.

After his botched introduction, which neither girl would let him forget, C.C. and Nunnally got along wonderfully. So well in fact, that at one point he was convinced he could have up and left for his meeting and neither would have noticed. He had enjoyed watching his two girls talk, enjoying themselves, smiling and laughing.

C.C. had let Nunnally lead most of the discussion. They talked about interests, hobbies and experiences. All the while Nunnally gently probed for more information from C.C., and C.C. had been very accommodating. She had told Nunnally as much as possible without talking about the future and geass. He could see situations that had come up in the 'future' in C.C.'s anecdotes. When it was time to leave for his meeting, C.C. had shooed him out the door saying, "With you gone we can finally have some girl time." Nunnally had done nothing but laugh and he had even noticed Sayoko suppressing a chuckle as he was pushed out the door of the dining room.

However, this was the evening on which the charges against Suzaku would be announced if what he had changed had not managed to prevent that. For the second time he wouldn't be there to comfort his sister when it was announced. This time though, if he managed to get home quickly enough, he would truly talk to her, assure her that Suzaku would be fine and put her mind at ease. Maybe he could even do a little planning later. Just wording things in a certain way might cause her to see things differently. It might be easier for her to accept Clovis's death if she saw him as the villain he had become and not the kind older brother he had been so long ago.

He was roused from his thoughts as the loudspeakers blared out his stop's name. Exiting the station, he ducked down the dark alleys and made his way to the back entrance of the warehouse. He snuck in to get changed and get everything set up before anyone arrived when his phone started to ring, causing him to look down at it in confusion as he couldn't help but wonder what had made her call him right now. Answering the phone he listened in mounting annoyance and exhilaration at what he was told. Opening his briefcase he started moving his paperwork around to find what he would need for the new plan he was forming.

****G's G****

Ohgi had decided that he was going to be the first to enter the warehouse where his resistance group was to meet 'the voice'. He figured that if he made a bad call and was leading them into a trap he should be the only one to get caught. When he was about ten feet from the entrance the side door to the warehouse's left swung open, revealing a well-lit interior.

He cautiously approached the now open door and froze in shock at the sight before his eyes. The warehouse could've contained any number of things, not least of which was an ambush. However, a large and expensive mobile home was honestly not something he had expected to see.

A soft clapping came from the shadows next to the vehicle as a man in a black suit, a cape trimmed in purple, and a full face mask stepped out of the shadows. When the man spoke Oghi knew it was the same man from Shinjuku. It was the voice; not just from how it sounded, but from its commanding tone as well, "It's nice to see you came, Kaname Ohgi. Get everyone else you brought with you inside and we can begin what will hopefully lead to the formation of a great alliance."

He found the fact that the man knew him not only as the leader of their resistance cell but also by sight very disturbing. However, there was nothing to be done about that, "Who says I brought anyone with me?" he replied.

The man in the mask shook his head slowly, as if disappointed, "I think I have a much better grasp of your character than that, Ohgi. While you might come forward alone to protect your friends, you would not have come to the warehouse alone, nor would your friends let you."

He felt trapped. It took him only a second to realize that this man knew more about him then he would ever feel comfortable with. Ohgi realized that he was likely completely outmaneuvered. Looking over his shoulder he could see that Kallen had already broken cover and was making her way towards him slowly. Deciding that it was probably for the best to get the rest of the group inside, where it was at least defensible, he nodded his head at Kallen. As she moved to signal the rest of the group he walked towards the masked man, his hand falling to his waist where a gun was discreetly hidden.

Not knowing how to address the one that had called them here, he waited patiently for the man to break the silence. The man simply waited, surveying each person as they entered. Ohgi was disturbed that the man nodded multiple times as the rest of the group entered the warehouse, as if he was expecting certain members. He was also struck by the thought that it was a good move not bringing Tamaki, as the fool would have started yelling by now. As much as he wanted to know how this man knew their names, he felt it was best not to antagonize him.

Finally the man chuckled and started talking, "You truly did bring your best with you, Kaname Ohgi. I am impressed with those you have chosen. Kallen Stadtfeld, probably the single best solo pilot in any Japanese resistance cell. Yoshitaka Minami, a former ship captain, experienced in command situations and with experience that can transfer to combat situations as well. Naomi Inoue, a prominent accountant before the Britannian invasion, an expert in logistics that we will dearly need. Kenta Sugiyama, the only member of your resistance group with any actual combat training due to his career in the police force before the invasion."

The more the man spoke the more the tension in the room thickened. No one should have known so much about anyone within their group. Kallen started yelling, and for a moment he regretted bringing the younger girl along. "How the hell do you know our names?" she shouted. Zero seemed to take it all in stride. "I feel that it is in my best interest to know every piece on the board before I make a decision on what to do, Miss Stadtfeld."

Ohgi quickly grabbed Kallen's shoulder to make sure she didn't do anything stupid. Sugiyama angrily cut in, "So is this all just a game for you then?" he demanded. "Because, news flash, it's not a game to us. We're fighting for our lives and future here."

There may have been a mask obstructing his face, but Ohgi knew the masked man was glaring at Sugiyama as he responded, "You say that I treat this as a game? You who are a terrorist? You who have only made things worse for yourselves and the Japanese in general? No, to Britannia you are but insects buzzing around, nothing more than a nuisance to them."

Annoyed at the dismissiveness the man used when talking about their sacrifices, Ohgi erupted, "How dare you say that we are making it worse for the Japanese people? We have done everything in our power to protect the people of Shinjuku from the Britannians, sometimes even managing to take down a few Britannians themselves. It's not like we have much in the way of equipment to use!"

The man responded with a voice that chilled Ohgi to the bone, "That is your problem. 'Sometimes even managing to take down a few Britannians themselves'? Do you even know what that actually means? By attacking the citizens of Britannia you make yourself the enemy of all of Britannia, a situation that only a fool would put one's self in. Your enemy is not the people of Britannia, but Britannia itself!"

The masked man swept his hand dramatically over those listening to him before continuing, "You hide away in your ghettos, attacking like a rabid dog, not caring who you hurt. Actions like that will make Britannians hate you. They will wish to put you down, just like a rabid dog deserves. No, I called you here today to offer you a choice. With my aid we can change this. The terrorism will end, and in its place we will have a war. A war that, when victory is finally earned, will culminate in the independence of Japan."

Ohgi was stunned at the audacity of the man in front of him. That this man had such plans, let alone that he thought he could achieve them, was absurd. It was also what Naoto had wanted when he formed the group, he realized; a Free and Independent Japan.

Minami finally broke the silence, "You're one to talk! Calling us out on hiding when you're afraid to show us, the people you intend to work with, your own face." he accused.

Ohgi also wanted to know who they were talking to. As much as he did, though, for a brief moment he thought Minami might have gone too far as the masked man met Minami's comment with another chuckle and stated, "I wear this mask not just for my protection, but for yours as well."

The confused and awkward silence caused by Minami's outburst had nothing on the tense silence that that statement caused. Ohgi felt the need for an explanation. "What do you mean by that?" he demanded, as he fingered his gun.

The man stayed silent for a moment before made a motion with his hand to someone behind him, "There was a reason that I asked for only the leaders of your group to come. This information is not something to be shared with just anyone."

Ohgi and everyone with him whipped out their guns as a man with the uniform of a security guard walked out into the light. The security guard looked at them intently before turning to address the masked man, "These are the one you told us to prepare for, Master Zero?"

Zero nodded his head. Ohgi could just hear the disgust in his voice as he addressed the security guard, "Yes. These are the people that will have free rein of this warehouse. No one they bring in will be stopped and this warehouse will never be searched nor will anyone connected to it, is that understood?" The "Yes Sir" that followed sent chills down Ohgi's spine for reasons he couldn't quite explain.

Zero turned back to them, not even acknowledging that their weapons were drawn. "That is the second reason I will not remove my mask", he stated simply. "I have a power, a power that is responsible for the Empire of Britannia's conquests. The Emperor wants to use this power, called Geass, to control the world. For each person it manifests differently. The Emperor's allows him to modify the memories of anyone that meets his gaze; he can even exert some degree of influence through a television. Mine grants me complete control over another person and forces them to carry out one absolutely command absolutely, but it requires direct eye contact."

Ohgi's mind was spinning. "So you're saying you can control anyone, anyone at all?" he asked. A gasp from Inoue, on his left, drew his eyes away from Zero for a moment, "You. You're the one that made Clovis command the cease-fire." she exclaimed.

Zero just nodded, "Both very true statements. That is why I wear a mask for the time being. I am working on a contact lens that will work just like this visor. Until it is complete, I will not remove my mask in your presence. The risk that I might accidentally order one of you to do something with my geass is too great."

Ohgi felt rather relieved at those words. When Zero had been talking about his plans for Japan what he actually wanted to do he had almost sounded like Naoto, but this… This was the opposite of what Naoto would have wanted. A power like that would inevitably go to someone's head. And yet this man was trying to be responsible with it. He broke the silence, "While I might not completely understand this power, let's say for now I believe you. Do you still insist on hiding your name?"

Zero paused for a moment before speaking, as though he was weighing his words, "I have my reasons for not showing myself yet. I felt that revealing my secret, my geass, would serve as a sign of my trust in you. Rest assured, once I prove myself to you I will reveal my identity. However, I fear I am too much like Miss Kōzuki for you to readily trust me."

Ohgi nodded at Zero, then took a side glance at the other resistance members. While they still looked puzzled at Zero's words, he realized what Zero meant. He had called Kallen 'Stadtfeld' until that moment. That he called her by the name Kōzuki had to be a conscious choice, pointing out that she was half-Britannian. While it made him leery, he could understand not wanting it known that he was as well. It would surely be a deal breaker for many of them, asking them to place their trust in a Britannian or even a half Britannian.

However before he could let Zero continue he had to know one more thing. "Why did you bring us here?"

Zero shook his head sadly for a moment, "An opportunity has arisen that we would be foolish to let pass us by. At Shinjuku I did not just force Prince Clovis to declare a ceasefire, I made good on my claim to you and killed him for his crimes. The Purists have been looking for me because of this but have been unable to locate me despite their best efforts and are now falling back to their next best plan. They wish to place the blame on someone else."

Ohgi could understand wanting to claim the credit for something like that with the prestige that it would bring, but it seemed to him that there was nothing they could do about it, "So? What does it matter that they are pinning the blame on someone else? It gives us time to lie low and regroup."

"You are thinking to small Kaname Ohgi. Follow me and I will explain my plan." Zero said while turning in the other direction and walking towards the mobile home.

Sugiyama whispered from next to him, "Do you really think we should get caught up in this boss?"

Slowly judging about the possible consequences he nodded, "It doesn't hurt us to listen to him at least. If nothing else he got us out of Shinjuku alive and is better equipped than we have ever been."

He could feel the hesitation in the others as they made their way into the mobile home to find what would normally be the 'living room' set up like a meeting room, a large central table surrounded by the inbuilt couch on one side and a few chairs on the other. Zero was sitting in one of the chairs with papers and folders laying on the table in front of him. Motioning to the other chairs he started speaking, "Before we begin there is something you will need to see."

He had started to take a seat on the couch so that he was across from Zero and noticed that the rest of the group was doing so as well when a TV next to the entrance they just came in flicked to a Britannian News Stations lamenting the pathetically low Britannian death count in Shinjuku. They lost seventy soldier? Who cared about the thousands of Japanese that lie dead because of those bastards. However before he could say anything the picture flickered and then there was the Emperor of Britannia standing behind a pulpit.

They sat and listened to the the speech given by the Emperor about the death of his son and then he turned even that into a rally about the strength of Britannia. It then switched to a man located in the main room of the Consulate wearing the Purist uniform, explaining how it was one of their own that had be tricked into murdering Prince Clovis in a misguided attempt to avenge the dead Empress Lady Marianne.

Inoue spoke first, "How could that man…"

It was Zero that responded, "Because he does not care anymore for his children then anyone else on this earth. They are so numerous that if some die off it does not matter to him. I showed you this for two reasons. First that you can understand that to change anything that this man must be defeated, there is no other way to make it happen. Second to show that this man is just as willing to throw aside even those of his own blood as he does with the people he conquered. From this I hope that you can understand we can find help and aid from the people of Britannia who hate this view that the emperor propagates."

Kallen slammed her hands on the table, "Bullshit! Ohgi it's time to leave. If this idiot thinks that there are Britannians that would side with Japan-"

"Hypocrite."

Everyone froze and stared at the masked man, "Do you believe that you are the only person of Britannian decent that would want to see Britannia pay for the crimes that it committed?"

"I'm Japanese!"

"That does not mean you are not Britannian. All it means is you choose the easier way of fighting."

"What?!"

Despite his own anger at what Zero was saying he grabbed Kallens arm to stop her from climbing across the table as both Minami and Sugiyama stood in anger as well. They all froze however when Zero spoke, "The only option of the people of Japan is to stand up and fight, because that is what they must do to survive. In the end what does it matter though? If you were Britannian would you still fight Kallen Stadtfeld, or is it only by circumstance of birth that you even see a reason to fight?"

"You have no right to judge us!"

Zero stared at her for a moment, "How many people attending Ashford Academy would like revenge on Britannia for wrongs done them?"

He couldn't help but feel confused at the point of that question but Kallen voiced his feelings well, "Only me. There is no one els-"

"You're not that special. In fact I could name at least three lives at that School that were destroyed by Britannia. Not to mention, you have to wonder how many have fond memories of a time here in Japan where they were friends with Japanese children their own age, as twenty eight of them were here before Britannia invaded."

"That's not true. I would know if anyone there wanted to fight."

Zero's voice when he spoke now was almost sympathetic, "Like they know you do?

"Of course not. I can't let them find out or else…"

He could see it then the realization of what Zero had egged her into discovering dawning on her face as her pulled her back down.

He was shocked when it was Inoue who interrupted in a small voice, "No, he's right. Your brother used to say it all the time. That you were the best blend of Britannia as well as Japan. That… That kind of blending is what we need in this country now."

For a second he thought that he saw a tear in Inoue's eye before she blinked and focused on Zero, "What is the reason that you brought us back here Zero."

The man stared at her for a moment before flicking his gaze across all of them, then grabbed a folder opened it and pushed it towards them.

A Britannian man's picture stared up at him, "This man is Margrave Jeremiah Gottwald, former head of the Purist faction in Japan. His subordinates have decided to advance themselves by using him as the scapegoat, blaming my killing of Clovis on him. Tomorrow afternoon he will be going to trial where he will be sentenced and executed immediately."

"So what? Let them kill each other, it's all the better for us isn't it?"

He could hear that Minami was second guessing himself even while speaking and couldn't help but think that at least one other person realized how much deeper into a situation this man looked then they did.

Kallen however snorted, "Of course it is, you can't possibly convince me that any Britannian is any good."

Zero ignored Kallen's comment, "Do to the fact that this entire situation is being handled by the Purists they will be escorting the prisoner as well as acting as security along the _parade_ route that they intend to take him on. Ohgi how many Purists are stationed in the greater Tokyo settlement?"

As everyone turned to look at him he stammered, "Um.. well… I don't know."

Zero's visor swept over all of them, "Do any of you know how many Purists are located in even the greater Tokyo area?"

Leave it to Inoue to have some idea when numbers are concerned, "They have two compounds in the greater Tokyo area. One at the consulate and one across the bay in Ichihara. In total they have around fourteen hundred members with the majority stationed near the Consulate."

He could hear the smile in Zero's voice as he responded, "True. Now how many people do you think it would take to successfully protect and guard almost eight miles of road in the settlement?"

He cut in here, "A lot but I don't see where you are going with this."

Sugiyama however was nodding, and it was the that it hit him that as a police officer he would have the best idea, "It would take a lot more men to guard than they have available even with how much easier it would be with Knightmares."

Minami went back to his old point gesturing at the folder in front of them, "Ok I see that it would be easier than originally thought but I still don't see how saving this man would help us."

Before Zero could respond Inoue gasped, "But that's not it isn't it. You're not telling us about the people that will be guarding the parade…"

He stared in astonishment as Zero completed the sentence as he pushed another folder over to them, "But about the few that will be left behind to guard their facilities. However the parade is important as well. That is where I will be to take credit for killing Clovis while also keeping their forces located there and unable to interfere with your attack."

He stared at the rough blueprints of a base in front of them, "You want us to attack a military compound?"

Zero seemed to shrug, "Not so much attack, that would imply that we would want to keep the place. Raid would be more appropriate. The majority of the men will be pulled from St. George compound in Ichihara for the parade, so not only will their men be gone but their defenses which predominantly rely on their Knightmares will also be gone."

Sugiyama cut in, "That still leave their automated defenses but it almost looks like…"

Minami cut in staring at the sheet he had grabbed in awe, "There doesn't seem to be a back up power supply."

He could hear the smugness in Zero's voice as he replied, "There is not. And their power can easily be shut off outside the base. Those few personnel that they will have left could be easily dealt with with the Sutherlands you still have and the supplies could be loaded onto the Humvees."

"Say this actually could work, what would be the point of leaving the base left standing?"

Zero stared at Kallen, "It would be better if it did not. Because in the end not only are you raiding a Britannian base, the aim of this is to also make the Purists look like the fools they are. Because if we can make the people see them as fools, we might be able to make them question the ideology of the Purists as well."

Rolling out a larger blueprint of the Purist base Zero started placing little chips in places before continuing to speak, "These are the likely places that the enemy will be positioned, run me through how you would try and take this base Ohgi."

Staring down at the map and pieces he couldn't help but feel that he was going to fail this test, but at the same time he had never felt this much hope since Prime Minister Kururugi surrendered.

****G's G****

"Are you sure that that was the exact message that was given to you?" Taizō Kirihara demanded.

Across the table Tohdoh put down his cup of tea and stared at his longtime friend for a moment before speaking, "Yes my friend, I am certain. However, I am at a loss as to who could have accomplished this. None of our spies were able to uncover anything, and the only person who could claim that they owe me a debt is Suzaku Kururugi. This however is completely beyond his ability to have pulled off, even if he did not fully believe in the Britannian cause."

Slowly nodding his head in thought Kirihara's mind drifted to the courier that had arrived this morning. A messenger from a single council member of the Blood of the Samurai had come with odd tidings.

It had made it so he slightly understand the situation more than Tohdoh did, however his instincts were telling him not to inform Tohdoh or the JLF about the letter or the supplies that the Blood of the Samurai received. This situation was something that his old friend would have to understand on his own.

Looking back at Tohdoh he asked, "I will need more time to think on this my friend. All this talk of depts thought has reminded me of one I believe is best if I called in soon, so please excuse me for a moment as I must send a note to the young Sumeragi heiress."

Yes Kaguya would be very helpful in this. She was the only other person in Kyoto house that would be able to help him sort out if his idea was correct. Kaguya was a rather large fan of the lost prince all those years ago, as well as good friends with his sister. So she might be able to help him figure out the chances of it being the same young boy from all those years ago.

If so he would have to think about how they would help the young boy, it would not do well to pass on such a skilled young man.


	6. Pride is the First to Fall

Well I hope everyone enjoys this even if you did have a bit of a wait.

I also hope everyone is enjoying their own holiday season as it comes around. And I promise my next chapter will be swift on the heels of this chapter.

There is a poll up, again. While I'll be honest, EVERY one of the 'subplot story-lines' mentioned in the poll will be in my story, how much they are added in will be affected by the poll. I have a lot of scenes already put in that go for almost every single one of those categories, but I am already adding more a lot of the time.

Lastly there will be a **Long Author's Note** at the end of this chapter. God I now loathe those both as a writer and as a reader. However, this Note explains what happened historically with Australia as well as how Religion will be affecting the world. The reason? These topics are mostly left blank in the Code Geass universe and I want to flesh out how they will work in my story. You can read it if you want to or not, it's up to you in the end.

Friendly reminder I own nothing within the Code Geass Universe except my O.C.s and those can be used by anyone that wants them.

Chapter 5: Pride is the First to Fall

Inoue looked across the room where Ohgi's group was currently meeting in, which currently contained everyone that had ever been a part of their resistance group. After not getting out of their meeting with Zero until almost midnight, Ohgi had called a meeting with their entire group to go over what Zero proposed at nine in the morning. It was now almost noon and she was sick of it. There was thirty seven people in this room and they had spent the last hour and a half trying to convince Tamaki and four other people that agreed with the idiot that they should come along for the raid.

"Enough."

It was a testament to how infrequently she spoke in meetings of this size that everyone instantly quieted. "Ohgi, Sugiyama, I understand why you are doing this but we have other things to discuss. We need to start getting everything prepped and go over who will be doing what. If they don't want to be a part of this, let them sit around and do nothing. We need to stop wasting time."

"Inoue we need everyone for this to work."

"At least we aren't idiots instantly agreeing with mister tall, dark and mysterious."

Pushing down the intense fury that welled up in her at Tamaki's annoying habit of being an ass she focused on Ohgi. It's not like Tamaki would even know why what he said hurt, no one in this room knew what she had lost.

"Ohgi, Zero went over everything with us multiple times last night. You and me know that when we could not come up with a clear number of people for the operation Zero helped us by designing his plans with thirty people in mind. Without them we still have thirty two people. I won't deny that having more people would be better but we need to focus."

Ohgi however still looked uncertain of what he should do until Kallen spoke up, "Look, I think this Zero is an arrogant ass. However, he assumed that not everyone would want in on this so I say leave them if they don't want to come. Inoue is right we need to get moving."

Tamaki cut in, "See what I mean Ohgi, you and the guys can see it. Only the girls are too blinded by this guy to think of anything else but doing what this guy says."

As annoyed as she herself was Kallen looked furious and was likely about to attack Tamaki only to be stopped by Ohgi grabbing her arm. Ohgi used his other hand to massage his temples as he interrupted Tamaki before he could dig himself a bigger hole, "Tamaki, both Sugiyama and myself have spent over an hour trying to convince you, and I'm starting to think those two are right about you. Simply put we need to do this. This would be a major strike against the Britannian forces here in Japan and a major boost to the moral of all of the Japanese that are resisting Britannia."

Seeing a way to finish this with Tamaki staring at Oghi with a blank slack jawed expression she quickly interrupted, "Look Ohgi I know Tamaki is your friend but this is now something beyond friendship. We need people that will listen to orders and do what needs to be done. Even if they agreed to come at this point I wouldn't trust them to do so. However if you are still worried about our numbers there is a small group in the Ichikara area that could be convinced to help. They are small time, only about a dozen people max, and they mostly do small time attacks against Britannia. Things like blocking a few roads to delay supply convoys and vehicles and putting up graffiti on Britannian property. They might not have that much fighting experience, but they don't need it. We have that and we can cover the fighting ourselves if we need to, they can help with the raiding and loading of equipment."

At that everyone stared at her again before Ohgi cut in kind of nervous, "Are you sure that's a good idea? Zero never said anything about doing that."

Sugiyama cut in, "No she's right. Zero is planning to disrupt the main force of the purists and while we know the plan he never gave detailed specifics of what he's doing, just like he helped us come up with a plan but left the design of the raid to us. This is our mission, and we can change things as we need. If nothing else this would fix any worries about the number of people we have if they are willing to help us."

She could only smile when Ohgi turned to her and asked, "Do you think you can get in touch with them?"

****G's G****

Looking away from the radio and over at Nunnally, she couldn't help but feel confused by the look on the younger girl's face. Milly had been wary when Lelouch had asked her to come over this evening and watch Nunnally, as both he and Sayoko would be out. She had not been able to put her finger on why but something about everything that was going on made her nervous.

So after she had arrived and made dinner for Nunnally and herself, they had talked about school and gossiped. Nunnally had explained that with what was going on over the past few days, Lelouch and Sayoko had gone to check up on the safe house Lelouch had set up a few years ago.

Now however with dinner finished and Lelouch not going to be here until after she was home and Nunnally was asleep Milly really didn't know what to do, or why Nunnally was so interested in the radio tonight.

Deciding that enough was enough as this seriousness just felt so wrong coming from someone like Nunnally she decided to ask a question she knew would help relax the atmosphere, "Nunnu, is your brother seeing anyone?"

She smiled when Nunnally relaxed, tilting her head to the side and giggling behind her hand, "So you have meet Lady C.C. too?"

Stifling her own giggle at the faux innocence in the younger girl's' voice, "Yes I saw them together the other day. I always figured I would be introduced to any girl that he brought home, not walk in on them on accident."

Nunnally looked a little confused when she asked, "When did you meet her?"

Smiling mischievously like she did any time she had the chance to corrupt Nunnally in any way she explained, "Well I sort of met her the other day. I didn't get her name but she was there when I went to wake up Lelouch the other day for the Student Council."

While Nunnally may currently look the part of a horrified innocent child at that, Milly knew her younger friend well enough to know how much of a trick that look really was, "Big brother is sleeping with her before they are even married!"

Chuckling lightly at Nunnally's antics she went to speak but Nunnally beat her to it, "Hmm… But I guess that begs the question what do I want more. To explain to my older brother what a horrible example he is setting for his impressionable little sister, or a niece or nephew? Hmmm… Decisions decisions."

Ignoring the surge of emotions she felt at that, not wanting to deal with the topic she came to terms with long ago she couldn't help but say, "You know you could grill him on his immoral decisions and still want a niece or nephew out of the deal. However, I call dibs on being Godmother of the first born."

Nunnally tapped her chin in thought, "I don't know if we can do that. Lady C.C. might have someone she wants to pick."

Nunnally sat deep in thought for a moment before smiling, "Well that's easily fixed. The three of us can have tea this week during school lunch. It would be so much fun. Plus you both-"

Nunnally stopped dead as a voice came from the radio interrupting the News, "And we now bring you the news on the transportation of the traitor that murdered our dear Prince Clovis."

She felt ill at ease at how Nunnally's attention went straight to the radio and was focused intently on only that. As the radio announcer talked about the traitor and the Purists that had managed to find out about his scheming she herself was finding it offputting so she hesitantly asked, "Maybe we should change it to something else Nunnally this is-"

"No."

She was more surprised at the ferocity of the statement then the statement itself. It was not the 'no' of a petulant child but rather it was said with the same tone and mannerisms of her brother when he was determined to do something. It was odd because this was a side she never seen from Nunnally before and definitely not one she really ever thought that the two siblings shared.

But as swiftly as it came Nunnally continued in a manner much more like herself, "I'm sorry Milly but when big brother came home last night he tucked me in and we talked about Clovis and the announcement yesterday."

For a second fear gripped her which was egged on by a nagging voice in the back of her head she had been ignoring for the past few days. Barely keeping the trepidation out of her voice she asked before she could stop herself, "And what did you two talk about?"

Nunnally continued to face the radio as she talked, and Milly not for the first time wished her young friend could open her eyes even if she couldn't see, just to see the emotions that played across them. "He was one of the guardsmen at Aries Villa before… I don't remember him, but big brother does. Big brother said he was one of the more junior guards and entirely devoted to keeping mother and us safe, even going so far as to volunteer for watching us when we played in the garden."

When Nunnally turned she had never seen such a serious look on the younger girl's face before, "It does not matter how many years have passed, he would not have changed. My mother personally picked every guard for our family, and she would never have chosen someone that would have killed Clovis. I refuse to believe that any Guard my mother would have picked would kill anyone in the royal family."

Though she could not put her finger on why, that statement from little Nunnally scared her more than all of her doubts about Lelouch ever could.

****G's G****

Kallen couldn't figure out what annoyed her more right now; that she along with four other people from their group were 'reporting' to Minami as they cleared the defenses, or that so far everything had worked out exactly how Zero said it would.

It was not fair on either account. She was the single best Knightmare pilot in any resistance cell, even Zero had said so. So why was she stuck working with a bunch of idiots that even with their Sutherlands could never beat her in her Glasgow.

As for Zero, while she did not want anything bad to happen, she had been hoping that he would not be absolutely correct about everything he had previously said. What he had said to her during the meeting had haunted her overnight, and it felt like if he was right about everything today he was probably right about everything yesterday. It didn't help that though they had all sided with her during the meeting yesterday she had felt it even from Ohgi that they had agreed with Zero about her views. The thought that she was becoming like everything she hated in Britannia terrified her.

Shaking her head to clear it of such thoughts she looked at the hangar before her. As soon as the power to the base had gone out they had crashed through the front gate completely destroying it and the minor defense installations located around it. They had seen men running towards one of the hangers and instantly she had opened fire as Ohgi's group moved to secure the hanger the men had been running towards and the one directly next to it. As Oghi called out that they had secured the hangars they were raiding, their humvees had started pulling in. This however was the signal she had been waiting for.

Pushing her Glascow forward she ripped the door off the hanger in front of her, only to grin evilly. Lifting her rifle she went to start firing at the VTOLs located inside before she stopped with her rifle half raised. Checking her factspheres readings to see if there was any people she almost laughed when it came up empty.

Pushing her Glascow forward she swerved left to get to one of the VTOLs and began to rip off it's wings.

"Kallen what are you doing? Your task is to destroy the vehicles in the hangar."

Shooting a glare at the radio she had taped to the side of her cockpit she shot back, "Why waste the bullets when I am shooting fully armed VTOLs with no one in them. Move them around a bit and I can bring down the entire hangar using their own missiles and fuel tanks."

There was silence for a second before the female of the twins from the Ichikara group that she could not remember the name of gleefully shouted over the radio, "I'm going to love working with you guys."

****G's G****

Lelouch smiled behind his mask as the sheet in front of him burned away, revealing Zero to the world for the first time once again.

It was ironic looking at the scene before him as Jeremiah looked just like Suzaku had the first time. Lelouch, however, had no intention of repeating himself. The plan was simple: Get in, save Jeremiah, destroy the common people's trust in Britannia's military, the government and especially the Purist ideology, and then get the hell out.

"You madman, you dare desecrate his Highness' transport?" Kewell roared into a microphone, the Purist leader hamming it up for the masses himself.

Ignoring Kewell he gestured towards the masses, throwing his cape behind him as he declared towards the only cameraman present, which he could easily identify as Diethard, "I am Zero!"

"You have some nerve," Kewell snarled before impatiently yelling, "This little show is over!" Kewell shot his pistol into the air and four Sutherlands dropped around them. Less concerned than he was last time, he ignored the new arrivals and was glad that he had C.C. below him rather than Kallen as C.C. was much less likely to be concerned by something so trivial.

Infuriated at being ignored, Kewell spoke again, "Why don't you take off that mask?" he demanded.

With a flourish, Lelouch raised his hand before snapped his fingers in front of his mask. The paneling behind him fell away, revealing the remains of the salvaged container that had held C.C. when she was held captive. Though he knew none of the soldiers knew that, they all thought it contained poison gas. He smirked as both Jeremiah and Kewell leaned back instinctively, as if it would help them survive the 'gas'.

"Do you intend to shoot me?" he taunted. "I think you know full well what will happen if you hit what is behind me."

Kewell cursed, but reluctantly lowered his weapon. "Do you think we will just give into your demands then?" he asked.

"Of course I propose a simple trade," Lelouch replied, "this canister for Jeremiah Gottwald. One Britannian's life for the lives of the thousands of innocent Britannians here today."

"Like hell!" Kewell barked. "He's accused of high treason for murdering a prince, I can't hand him over!"

And there was that moment again, same as last time. "That is where you are mistaken, you foolish little man." A hint of amusement crept into Lelouch's voice as he suppressed a chuckle. "It bothers me greatly when others are given recognition for MY actions."

"You mean-?!" Kewell sputtered, while Jeremiah's eyes widened as he grasped what was just said "Indeed." Lelouch replied, staring intently into Kewell's eyes. "The man who murdered your precious Prince Clovis…was MYSELF! He died begging for the same mercy that he denied all those in Shinjuku when he ordered them to be killed to the last child."

Kewell growled, "You, you're nothing but a simple minded fool, a madman. Guards, seize him."

Lelouch actually laughed at that one, "I wouldn't, if I were you. You don't want the world to learn of Prince Clovis' 'Project Orange', do you?"

Kewell sputtered in confusion. "Just think about the damage it would cause your precious Prince's reputation if word got out of his involvement in what he had planned for his siblings. No, you wouldn't want that now would you?"

Noting that Jeremiah had stiffened in his spot next to Kewell, he could not help but smile as Kewell leaned forwards over the rail of the purist platform as if to yell. Sliding back the cover of his left eye he issued his command.

"And that is why you will release Lord Jeremiah to me and let us leave safely, without tracking or attacking us."

He couldn't help but smile at how smoothly everything had gone as Kewell followed his instructions despite minor protests from his men. Though now that Jeremiah was standing in front of him he noticed another difference, it seemed like Jeremiah would have been allowed to at least speak in his defence with his lack of shock collar. He noted one of the Knightmares with Kewell lifted it's gun as if to shoot and smiled as the next layer of his plan unfolded.

"You are to follow Lord Kewell's orders." was yelled over gunfire as one of the Purist Knightmare pilots in the crowd he geassed earlier today opened fire on the ones trying to stop him.

He grabbed one of Jeremiah's arms and C.C. grabbed the other before activating the smokescreen from the capsule, and dragging Jeremiah over the edge of the bridge. It was as he was falling towards the canvas that Sayoko had set up so she could catch them that he realized Jeremiah had been extremely compliant so far.

****G's G****

There was four hangars on the base, two for Knightmares, one for VTOL's and the last seemed to be for miscellaneous support vehicles. The four of them were split into two pairs, so Zero had advised that they focused on looting two of them while just razing the other two. While they had initially wanted to go for the armory they had passed up on that option when Zero pointed out that the armory was located in the basement of the barracks, so they would have to fight though anybody that had remained and barricaded themselves in the barrack to get to them. With the humvee he was in backing up towards one of the hangars Sugiyama couldn't help but feel he was again getting the short end of the stick as he looked at everybody else he had with him in the back of the Humvee.

They had one group in each of the Humvees. The thing was the group from Ichikara had a set of twins in it, Ren and Hibiki, and before the invasion Ren had run her family's' mechanic shop while Hibiki worked on finishing his electrical engineering degree. So they and some other guy were going to be working with the leader of the group from Ichikara, Tsukiko, to see if they can get any more vehicles operational while also destroying their IFF system so they would not be tracked.

The four of them would be in the same hangar where Inoue and her group of six people were going to be looking for any supplies they could get.

And he only had five people for the entire hangar they were hoping to get Knightmare parts from, the number just seemed unbalanced.

Heaving a sigh he addressed his group as the humvee finished backing up, "You all remember the layout of the hangar. Ohgi has declared everything as clear and now it's up to us. You know your jobs, we are looking for armaments, energy fillers, ammo, and spare parts in that order."

Pointing at the one guy from the Ichikara group he had with him he added, "You are with me, we are to search that room built in the back."

Getting affirmative nods from everyone just before the humvee came to a halt, he started everything off by jumping out the back and rushing into the wide open hangar.

He absently noted that there were still two bays with Sutherlands in them, as well as a wide variety of weapons scattered around the stalls as he rushed towards the back of the hangar.

He frowned in worry when he noticed that the door to what they thought was an office was closed.

Coming to a dead stop right in front of the door he kicked the door off it's hinges before following through with momentum into the room rifle up and looking for targets.

"Clear."

The other guy followed him reluctantly after that. The guy frowned however as he looked around, "It's nothing but books, what use is that."

He couldn't disagree as he grabbed one off the shelves that lined all the walls in the room except the space taken up by the one large table against the far wall.

He didn't get anywhere before he noted the name on the side of the book he was holding, "Look at the titles start packing up anything that has to do with Sutherlands we need all of this."

Manuals for piloting would be an amazing thing for them to have.

****G's G****

"Son of a bitch."

Jeremiah couldn't help but curse as he fell. While he had let himself fall figuring the two individuals had organized an escape route he had not been prepared for them to let go of him on the way down. Because of this he landed in a net too far away from them in the getaway vehicle for him to easily grab them.

"You will regret saying that later Jerry."

The voice was muffled by layers but it's sing song tone and higher pitch meant that it was the the driver of Clovis' transport and they were distinctly female.

Feeling himself finally land on a flat surface he jumped to his feet to see a dimly lit interior of a eighteen wheeler, only for the vehicle to start moving and he cursed again as he fell backwards onto the metal surface and ended up wrapped up in the canvas.

Finally freeing himself he found the two people that saved him standing in front of him, 'Zero' and the young green haired lady standing next to him. It was odd because she was unmasked and it sounded like he was laughing for some reason.

"It is good to see you again Guardsman Gottwald."

He froze halfway through standing and stared at Zero. That title, it had been years but still just mentioning that title could bring him up short. Oh how disappointed the Lady Marianne would be with him.

"What were you talking about? What did you mean about Prince Clovis' siblings?"

This time he could distinctly hear a bitterness in Zero's laugh, "It might be good to see you Guardsman, but you are not in charge here. Before anything else will be spoken you must answer a simple question."

"Go ahead and kill me then I will never betray those I have sworn loyalty to."

The lady started laughing and Zero chuckled to himself before speaking, "That is all good and well but to who exactly are you talking about Jeremiah Gottwald? You have sworn four oaths in you life; the first to protect Lady Marianne Vi Britannia and her children, the second to serve as an officer of Britannia, the third to the ideals of the Purist Faction, and your last to serve the deceased Prince Clovis. To which of these oath does your Loyalty Lie?"

"I will always serve the Empire and it's Royal Family!"

The woman sighed before she spoke, "And pick to not pick, are you really that stupid Jerry, or is it that you just don't realize that your oaths contradict each other? You swore to serve your Prince Clovis, as well as to serve the country that says he died because he was worthless. You swore yourself to two organization where one wants the other dead. You swore to protect the Vi Britannia line , and you swore to stamp out any inferior influence trying to infiltrate the Pure blood Britannians-"

"There was NOTHING inferior about Lady Marianne or her children!"

The words flew from his mouth as he moved to rush forward and show that measly woman to never say something like that about the Vi Britannias again when Zero froze him in his tracks, "And yet you swore yourself to eradicating those like her that, in the narrow purist mindset, married above her station. Thus I ask again to which of your oaths do you swear Loyalty to?"

"I don't have to explain myself to you." He spat out the words as if it would release some of the rage and anger he was feeling.

"Then we are at an impasse. I can not trust you with anything I know unless I know I can actually trust you. You are being too stubborn to realize that this has to do with more than your pride or do those you have sworn yourself to mean that little to you."

There was silence for a moment as the truck made a turn before he punched the wall next to him in frustration as he could feel those thrice cursed tears forming in the corners of his eyes. Leveling his glare at these infuriating terrorists he growled out, "I will always stand by my oath to Protect the Vi Britannian Line. Even if all I can still protect is their honor, I will do so until my dying breath."

"And yet you joined a group that would have liked to see them killed, how do you explain that?"

He could hear the challenge in Zero's voice, "It was the only way to get to this god forsaken land. After… The Purists were the only group that would take that had been so dishonored. I had to find them!"

"And when did that stop and you start believing it? When did you stop being about protecting children and instead cutting them down? I could hear you in Shinjuku Guardsman, when did it become fun to hunt down children rather than play them in a game of chess? What would Princess Nunnally think about what you have become?"

The accusation felt like physical blows as they struck him deep inside, and he stumbled back trying to find purchase on the flat metal wall. He could feel his mouth moving but everything he wanted to say seemed to die on his tongue before he choked out, "What right do you have?"

The insufferable woman started to laugh again, and he shot her a glare until he noticed something. Zero was taking off his mask.

He was actually not nearly as shocked as he thought he would be when Zero was revealed to be a Britannian with short black hair, though Zero was much younger than he had expected. Then however Zero spoke, "I am the only one that still has the right to make that demand of you, Jeremiah Gottwald. Now answer that question Guardsman."

As soon as he had finished speaking Zero opened his eyes and it all made sense. He felt all the anger and frustration wash away leaving only relief and confusion as he sank on his knees, "My Prince?"

"Not until you tell me what happened to the young guard that watched over me and Nunnally at Ares Villa. Not until you explain yourself."

"The Princess, is she alive? I tried to find you. I had failed you before and I…"

His prince's demand finally registered and he fell silent, unable to come up with a sufficient answer to the question.

He knelt there for what seemed like hours with his head hung before his Prince, oh that confused him, how could HIS PRINCE be Zero, spoke, "That at least proves you still have some of your honor still. Confused, and in shock, and yet still with what you just witnessed your first thought was to my sister's safety."

Finally finding his voice he rasped out in a shaky voice, "My Prince I… I don't understand."

There was no response for a second and he hesitantly looked up only to find his Prince kneeling down to some odd kneeling sitting position he hd seen some of the elevens use before directly in front of him before speaking, "I know you don't Jeremiah. But it is something I need you to understand. I have seen Britannia for what it is now. It and it's policies are a cancer that destroy or corrupt everything they touch. Japan was an amazing land that gave me and my sister so much. I learned things from masters like Taizō Kirihara, Kyoshiro Tohdoh, and Genbu Kururugi that knew more than anyone in Britannia I had ever met. I saw their compassion because even though we were not wanted here, we were taken in, cared for, and eventually Nunnally and myself became their friends and students. They were the first people after the attack to not look down on my sister for what had happened to her. Not even I was innocent of that, but here people like Taizō Kirihara never once thought that her disability would be a hinderance for her. She made friends with Kaguya Sumeragi and the two of them would have tea and make plans like they already controlled the world. And then Britannia destroyed it, after trying to kill us."

"What?"

It came out as almost more like a hiss as he interrupted his prince.

His Prince looked at him critically, "You won't find it in any official report, I know I looked, but four hours before our deaths were announced and the invasion began the Kururugi household was bombed. We had been out early for a hike up one of the nearby hills because Nunnally wanted some fresh air when the bombs landed. We were high enough up for me to see where they landed. If we had still been asleep like we usually were Nunnally and myself would have died that morning. But we didn't and we walked and hiked abandoning the wheelchair do to uneven ground. Suzaku and myself took turns carrying Nunnally to the coast. I went back and looked at it you know, it was thirteen Kilometers from where we were to the extraction point me and Suzaku remembered."

The Prince waved his hand as though brushing something aside, "But that's not the point. There is a simple reason that I will destroy everything wrong with Brittannia. It killed my mother, crippled my sister, destroyed the nicest country I ever saw, has killed billions, twists people from the good kind-hearted people they were to what both you and Clovis had become, power hungry individuals who bring terror and suffering. This needs to be fixed."

There was silence before he locked eyes with his prince, "What do you need me to do my Prince?"

"What I need is for you to not just do what I tell you to do, but to truly believe in what I am trying to do. Then once you understand that, I have a task for you. You might be the last Guardsman to still be looking for me in Japan but there are others still alive. Not many, too many have died over the years, but some are still out there. I want you to track down all of the remaining Guards sworn to my mother, and anyone else you think might help me. Can I trust you to do this?"

He franticly started to nod his head while wondering how he could get his home computer, as he had this odd feeling he was no longer going to be able to move around in the open anymore.

****G's G****

To say that Cornelia was less than pleased would have been the understatement of the century. The failure of those idiotic 'Purists' seemed to only mount higher as she had watched the sideshow of a parade they had thrown. Ending on the low note with some lunatic making off with their chief suspect, who seemed to be nothing more than a scapegoat, with the help of the people that were to bring him to trial.

She stormed down the ramp and out of the recently landed airplane ignoring the fact that it was well into evening. Brushing past Guilford she froze for a moment when she saw a spotlight shining on people waiting for her as would be normal for a Princess of Britannia's arrival at a government agency.

Cornelia scowled. Heads would roll over this terrorist problem; it seemed as though these idiots weren't even looking for them. She quickly spotted the ranking officer. With quick determined strides she reached him and cut off his attempted introduction, barking, "What are you and your men doing here? After that abysmal failure earlier, you should at least be trying to salvage the situation by tracking down those terrorists. I want to know where that prisoner has gotten too, damn it!"

If she had not been so furious she would have laughed as the officer swallowed hard, letting out an audible 'gulp', and responded. "We were not in charge of what happened at the parade. As they ran the entire thing we have left the situation in the hands of the Purist Officers."

This brought Cornelia up short, her fury at what happened earlier warring with her fury over this blatantly stupid action. "Then who is in charge?"

The officer looked at a loss of how to answer that, but before she could cut him off a younger dark skinned lady ran out of the building holding a pile of papers and rushing a hasty curtsy.

"I'm sorry Princess Cornelia, I had meant to meet you out here but I have been trying to organize and figure out who can do what."

Her eyebrow quirked as she looked at the frazzled woman, "You are in charge?"

The woman nodded dumbly as the officer from before snorted. Noting the purist woman's junior rank to the man behind her she found herself confused and more than a little perturbed, "How did this come about?"

The woman looked down as she spoke, "As per the chain of command Prince Clovis had set up after his personal command staff the purists were to take command of the military here in Area 11. But with the deaths of Sir Callahan, Sir Barth and Lord Darius in Shinjuku, Lord Gottwald being arrested, and Lord Kewell and Lady Durnst turning traitor… I'm the last senior officer left and I have been trying but… Lord Kewell put me in charge of the military when Lord Gottwald was arrested yesterday and because it was well known that while Prince Clovis and General Bartley were in charge of the military, Lords Kewell and Gottwald were the ones to choose almost every officer the military has stationed here. So I was spending all my time trying to revet everyone to make sure there was no more traitors. I was also going through everything I could that Lord Gottwald had on his computer. Then when I was trying to find someone that I had vetted already to go help with this Zero fiasco, I had to scramble forces because we received a call that there were forces attacking St George base. But I-"

"There was what?"

Her words came off as almost a roar as they cut the woman off her eyes focusing on the military officer behind the woman, "And where was the actual military during this?!"

As the officer went to respond the woman cut him off, "Princess I couldn't justify sending more people from the consulate with how many men Lord Kewell had pulled from here, so I was trying to find others that I could trust. If it's anyone's fault for what happened it is mine. I was in charge and I should have done better. However Princess there are…"

As annoyed as she was at the interruption she couldn't help but think the woman showed promise, and definitely had the drive and initiative of a good leader even if she was clearly unqualified for the role she found herself in. However as the woman trailed off she finally looked up again and there was a skittish look there, "Well out with it?"

There was a second before the woman clearly mustered herself, "There are things that must be discussed your Highness before you do anything else." The woman's eyes passed over everyone present before slowly nodding to herself, "This conversation should continue inside. I…"

"Understood. Guilford get those that came with us set up where we need them, I want a full assessment of at least the Consulate by tomorrow morning. I want you to check on the prisoners that are currently being held yourself, then look into searching for this Zero character as well."

Turning back to the woman she nodded towards the building finally catching the woman's name tag in the glaring spotlight, Villetta Nu.

****G's G****

Rolo sat on the Student Clubhouse porch, watching Lelouch and C.C. draw closer. Lelouch spotted him and stopped dead, his expression a mixture of anger and fear. Summoning the last of his courage, he stood up and walked towards Lelouch, who was framed by the rising moon, completely ignoring C.C. as unimportant. Lelouch took a hesitant step back. Rolo couldn't take it anymore; and activated his geass.

Time froze for a large area around himself. He closed the distance to Lelouch… and wrapped his arms around the older boy in a fierce hug. Letting his Geass drop, he felt Lelouch tense in his arms. Afraid, more afraid then he could ever remember feeling in his life, he muttered, "I'm back big brother, and this time… This time you don't have to lie anymore."

AUTHOR'S NOTE

 **Australia**

In the Code Geass universe Napoleon never fell but actually conquered all of Europe. So those Catholics that opposed him needed a place to flee to as Europe was no longer safe. They decided to flee to Australia, It might seem like an odd idea but Napoleon had already turned his eyes to taking all of Africa for himself, and the Church of England had already started forcefully converting the Americas under the fleeing English Royals/Nobles. Due to this large influx of Catholics and their innate desire to be in charge (They were influential white europeans during Europe's Imperial Age), they set up a Catholic Theocracy. At least it is in name it practice it is more an oligarchy that stays in the family.

 **EU**

Over the years religion has ceased to be a major fact in Europe with a smattering of religions from all over being present, but with a rising atheist movement. The main Exceptions are Russia, which has stayed majority Russian Orthodox, and large sections of Italy, southern France and Spain which remain Catholic, with Rome still being the seat of the Pope.

 **Britannia**

While officially Britannia and all its colonies are Church of England, it does not really matter much. All Britannians are Church of England but very few practice, and the numbers they conquered face no legal punishment for not converting or even openly practicing another religion. They might however face public backlash. However overall there is a large catholic faith base in central and southern Britannia. This Catholic population is the main reason Britannia has not invaded Australia at this point, fearful of potential uprisings throughout these areas.

 **Africa**

The Northern African States have a majority muslim population while the rest of the continent generally follow traditional African beliefs. The continent has been the focal point for most wars between Britannia and The EU, as such it has swapped ownership many times. As such while religion is not considered a major point to them they are very anti Christian stemmed from the fact they are very anti-EU and anti-Britannia.

 **Chinese Federation**

While for the most part there was never any concern by the emperors of China as to dictating the religion of the people they conquered. However, after the invasion of Japan it was announced that the young Empress Tianzi decided that to protect the people of China she would need their prayers to protect them. Thus All religions were banned and you could only pray to the Empress under penalty of death. This caused much conflict especially in the western side of the Chinese Federation which was primarily Hindu, Sikh, Zoroastrian, Buddhist, and Muslim. To this day Empress Tianzi is still unaware of this law.

 **Middle Eastern Federation (area 18)**

A coalition of different muslim countries and groups recently conquered by Britannia. While the Muslims were not kind to those that did not follow their faith, individuals were allowed and legally protected within their boundaries. The Exception was for those of the Jewish faith, as such individuals if found were always executed do to their possible ties to The Mossad.

 **Judism**

At this point in the Code Geass they are still a large but scattered people as none of the events that lead to the formation of Israel would have happened here. However, there is a long running group in the area surrounding Jerusalem that is trying to liberate their homeland. They are the Mossad and they have been declared a terrorist group by the MEF since their formation almost forty years ago.


	7. New Starts

Author's Note: I know I don't need to repeat this for most people but I will anyway. In MY mind I see Rolo as a repressed child. He has been trained to suppress all emotions and to do as V.V. tells him, no matter what. When those walls he built started crumbling around him he did not know how to deal with these emotions. Shirley is the best example of this, as he was jealous of Lelouch's affection for her. He reacted to this the only way he knew how, with violence. In my story that will change over time due to how people treat and interact with him. Honestly, while I know it's not the actual inspiration for the song, I have been using 'Hands of Sorrow' by Within Temptation to get into my mindset for Rolo (mentally knowing that what Rolo truly wanted was to be part of a family).

I am surprised by the lack of votes on the poll people. You should really get your votes in.

I do not own in any way shape or form own anything that resides in the Code Geass Universe.

Chapter 6: New Starts

Lelouch was exhausted because of everything that had happened. This included all the work he had done to get everything ready for his future Black Knights, his aid in helping Ohgi and the others with their attack as well as C.C. and himself saving Jeremiah. It was now getting quite late and all he wanted to do was go to bed and curl up with C.C. Looking at the clubhouse he swore under his breath at the sight he saw before him. There before him was Rolo, who was walking slowly towards him. Then the next thing he knew Rolo's arms were wrapped around him and he heard the boy say in a tiny voice, "I'm home brother."

Lelouch blinked, his brain not processing what was happening, as his arms acted on their own to wrap around the younger boy. He vaguely acknowledged C.C. giving him a look as she started moving towards the Clubhouse. In his mind though all he could hear were the last words he had spoken to Rolo, just after the boy's death, "Your big brother is just a liar." What horrible twist of fate this was, that Rolo would remember how his heart had been destroyed, and yet Rolo would still come back to him. It was something that both touched and terrified him. The boy remembered, he remembered how horrible Lelouch had been, all the horrors that he had committed in his previous lifetime. For the briefest of moments, he contemplated killing the boy that would no doubt serve as a reminder of everything that he had done before shaking that thought aside.

He realized he hadn't said anything since Rolo had hugged him as he noticed Rolo was shaking in his arms. "Don't make me leave big brother," those words were so soft and broken they easily killed any negative desire he had towards the younger boy.

He tightened his arms around Rolo and spoke as soothingly as he could, "Rolo, I promise you can stay. You will always have a home with me, with Nunnally, together as a family." He watched intently to measure the younger boy's reaction. He was only mildly disappointed when the boy flinched at Nunnally's name. That resentment and jealousy would have to go.

Letting Rolo out of the hug, something the younger boy seemed reluctant to do, he slung his arm around Rolo's shoulders and started steering the boy towards the clubhouse. He couldn't help but wonder what C.C. was doing when he felt a familiar shiver run down his spine. "Come On, let's get inside Rolo. It might take a while but I'll get everything settled out ok."

As he walked, he realized that if he was going to make this work, if he was truly going to stop himself from becoming like his father; it would have to truly start here. Rolo was the person he had manipulated the most the entire time he knew the boy. Worse, just like his father he had done so to 'family'. No, looking again at the young boy beside him, this time he was going to make sure he was the same kind of big brother to Rolo that he was to Nunnally.

As they made their way through the clubhouse to his room he pushed the door open and sighed in exasperation at the sight before him, as the reason for the earlier shiver became apparent. C.C. was sprawled out on his bed, wearing what seemed to be one of Nunnally's nightgowns as it was far too small for his Witch's more mature frame, while she snuggled her cheese-kun. He could feel Rolo go stock-still next to him at the sight, out of worry or embarrassment he couldn't exactly tell.

C.C. had looked up when he entered with a playful grin on her face that he could tell was being forced because of the presence of Rolo. Looking him dead in the eye she spoke in a rather superior voice, "Well Lelouch, it seems someone else remembers, doesn't it? You should be glad that the person that remembers isn't trying to kill you this time."

The emphasis that C.C. had put on the word 'this' was unmistakable, and he gently squeezed Rolo's shoulder trying to offer comfort as best he could. With a swift glare at the girl he spoke in a voice he hoped would get her to drop that discussion before it could get off the ground, "What have I told you C.C.? This time I will fix my mistakes, and that means with Rolo back I am going to look at this as my little brother returning to the family."

C.C. looked at him intently her eyes searching until Rolo interrupted the moment, "Big brother... Isn't this your room?"

"Yes."

Rolo's eyes widened a fraction, and Lelouch himself had to suppress a chuckle as his Witch and himself answered almost in unison. For a second an awkward silence descended before C.C. asked, "How do you remember Lelouch Rolo? We have already established that no one other then Lelouch remembers his previous life, and you were not in the world of C when Lelouch was sent back."

He hated that the Witch got straight to the point like that but looked expectantly at Rolo anyway. Rolo however looked completely at lost, and just shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't really remember much after dying. I remember there being a lot of people. It… I… I want to…"

He was about to intervene as the younger boy's eyebrows knit together in frustration before Rolo continued, "I think I was us. I mean… It's hard to explain."

C.C. however nodded her head, "That makes sense. You became part of the collective unconscious of mankind. You were one with every single person that had ever died."

The younger boy looked rather perturbed and a little pale at that but continued to speak, "It was decided that someone would be sent back, to help save them by remembering… being remembered… reminding..."

He reached out and grabbed Rolo's shoulder as understanding flooded him, "You don't need to explain Rolo. I understand what you want to say."

Rolo looked up at him with thankful wide eyes. C.C. however pinned him with a calculating stare, "You understand?"

He slowly nodded his head, "I was sent back to change what happened. To save the world of C, and make sure my parents fail in their plans. Rolo remembers because the collective human unconscious decided for him return to, and I can only think of one reason why. As glad as I am to have a chance to treat Rolo like I should have the first time, he will always serve as a horrible reminder of what I have previously done and what I can become."

He left unsaid that in the end he had manipulated and lied to Rolo many times. He had cast Rolo aside because Rolo had not lived up to what he had planned or wanted… In the end he did to Rolo exactly what Charles had done to him and Nunnally.

Pulling his brother into an impromptu hug he whispered, "I promise Rolo, this time I will be the big brother you deserve. This time I'll help you."

He felt Rolo stiffen a little at the surprise hug. Letting go he continued, "Rolo, please indulge me for a few moments. I must go say goodnight to Nunnally, then I will be right back and we will find a way for you to live here with us ok?"

He tried to ignore the flash of hurt that passed over Rolo's face at that, "Ok Big brother I'll wait right here untill you get back."

****G's G****

The adrenaline that had been pumping through his veins just a few hours ago was now completely gone as Ohgi sagged in the simple chair across from most of the team leaders. Right now it was only him, Sugiyama and Tsukiko from the Ichikara group. Inoue should be joining them soon with the final numbers of everything they had managed to obtain and Minami was trying to calm some of the tensions that had sprung up when they had returned.

Tamaki's group had been waiting for them to get back and there had been more than a little bit of annoyance with them as they seemed to dismiss that they were wrong, thought it was only 'luck' that caused everything to work out and wanted to be able to see and play with everything that was stolen right then and there. Then a few of those from the Ichihara group had demanded they leave that instant with the tank and everything in the APC so they would have the things they deserved for helping with the operation, which would be stupid as they would have almost none of the shells for the tank but would have a Knightmare Rifle and lot of ammo,s two sets of stun tonfas and a Knightmare Lance with no Knightmare. So now they were planning to go over how they were going to divide everything up.

His thoughts were interrupted when Tsukiko spoke up, "I want in. Whatever this Zero is planning I want my group in on it."

He stared in astonishment at the dark haired middle aged woman for her demand when Sugiyama spoke up, "Honestly I don't know if that's even up to us. We can get in touch with him but it could take a while. I however don't see any reason he would say no."

When they turned to look at him he shrugged his shoulders, "I'll contact him later but first we need to sort this out. The debate out there is because of our decision so I want to fix that before I call him."

Tsukiko shook her head, "Yes I can't believe Hibiki. I understand his concern but he was being far more like his sister then I would like. He is usually the more level headed of the two."

A snort came from the doorway as they turned to see Inoue walking in, "I would not blame him too much, Tamaki is rather apt at driving people crazy. In fact I would say the boy's plan was actually rather rational, not very smart, but definitely rational and restrained."

He ignored his annoyance at Inoue from how hard on Tamaki she had been all day. There had to be something that he did not know about the situation, although it was likely none of his business. Fixing the problem of what to do with the supplies however was, "Inoue do you have the final list?"

"Nowhere near a final list but I do have all the basics. Minami has people out there counting all the small things like bullets and mechanical parts. They are also getting a more detailed list of the medical supplies from what we grabbed."

Tsukiko frowned, "I thought we were waiting for you to get an exact list?"

Inoue rolled her eyes, "Getting an exact list would take more time than this, and honestly there are more important things that need to be discussed right now." Inoue swept her eyes across everyone before speaking again, " Let me explain it better using the medical supplies as an example. I don't know what supplies we have but I do know that we have three medic field bags, two First aid kits that we ripped of the hangar walls and one of the crates we took is full of medicine. The exact details of what is in these supplies is being sorted out now."

Tsukiko nodded, "I can understand that. You have a list of what we have have in vague terms like boxes of ammo but not exact numbers?"

Sugiyama however cut in, "What exactly is so important that we need to discuss?"

He couldn't help but agree with Sugiyama at that as Inoue sat down, "About if we are going to make this arrangement with Zero permanent."

He nodded and indicated Tsukiko, "Before you came in she was asking me to contact Zero about the Ichikara group permanently joining Zero."

"I meant for us. We were the people he reached out to and helped twice now, but formally we never agreed to fight with him."

He shuffled awkwardly in his chair for a moment, "I thought our agreement to work with him was implied simply by staying for the entire meeting and then committing to this attack."

Sugiyama quickly spoke up after he finished speaking, "Just to be clear I don't think we should be giving up our status as an independent group to work with Zero. I know he didn't say we would be but I just figure we should be clear."

He noted that Inoue looked uncomfortable as Tsukiko gave a loud, "Agreed."

Placing his hands up in a placating gesture before he even started talking he cut that idea off, "That might work for now but I don't see it working in the long run."

When everyone turned to stare at him he continued, "Wait and hear me out Sugiyama. Tsukiko, I know you were not there for our meeting with Zero so there are things you don't know, and now that I think about it before I bring up your offer to Zero you really should be aware of them."

Making sure he had everyone's complete attention he tried to explain everything to the best of his ability, "Yes, while staying completely independent might work for now, it would be disastrous for what Zero said are his long term goals. Sugiyama you were there when he explained that he wanted to change the fight from small scale 'terrorist' attacks into real military conflicts and eventually a full on war with Britannia. So while for now small groups that are connected and scattered are ok later that would be detrimental because it would make it harder for everyone to work together."

"Exactly."

Everyone's attention snapped to Inoue, "That is in part what I wanted to talk about before we divide up the equipment. I kind of had an idea for something about that."

Tsukiko finally spoke up, "What is this idea?"

"There is a safe location with a real lot of empty space that Zero has access to, it's where we met him. What if we used that as sort of a central headquarters. There is a lot of stuff there and while a lot is useful, there are some things we grabbed in excess of what we can use or just are not things which we have a use for right now. Plus there are all the manual and tools Sugiyama grabbed, yeah they are useful but right now we don't have people with the skills to use them correctly. We could use it as a storage place and maybe a repair shop as well as do our planning there."

Sugiyama cut in, "That sounds like a good idea but it's not like it's our place. We can't just go making plans for it."

He felt the need to defend Inoue's idea at that, "Actually no. It's like you said earlier Sugiyama we need to make our own decisions. Yes we can't decide what to use it for, but Zero did say we could make plans to run past him. We can write up a plan setting up how this idea could work…"

As he trailed off after actually realizing how intensive such a thing would be Tsukiko cut in, "If you are going to do something like that you might want to include how to approach other groups. You would need a lot of people if this Zero truly wants to form an army."

Inoue smiled in her seat, "We. Not you, we. You did say you wanted to be a part of this didn't you."

****G'S G****

Rolo felt a wave of sadness and distress wash over him as his big brother walked out the door towards Nunnally's room. What did she even do for big brother? She was weak, an invalid, she could do nothing for big brother... But then why did he love her more than him? Was it just because she was his real family?

Turning from the door his eyes landed on the green haired witch and an angry scowl formed on his face. He couldn't understand why she was in big brother's room either. His confusion annoyed him and he quickly gave voice to his question, "Why are you sleeping in big brother's room?"

That witch just looked over at him before indifferently saying, "I don't think you need to know why little boy, though at your age it is doubtful you would even understand."

Indignation welled up inside of him at the impertinent woman in front of him. That was quickly followed by fear for big brother, was this woman controlling big brother like V.V. controlled him? He mentally cursed himself, he had been so worried that big brother would react badly to his arrival, not knowing if Lelouch remembered everything, he had not brought any weapons. Reacting on instinct, he froze time around them. The witch was unmoving and for a moment, he was about to jump for joy, as the same thing would never work on V.V.. Then the witch blinked, "You should stop that boy. Lelouch would be hurt if you died doing something stupid."

The shock, even though he expected her to be immune to his power, snapped him out of the time freeze bubble. Glaring at that woman again he mutinously muttered, "It would be worth it if I save big brother from you."

He noted anger and annoyance flash across the woman's face, but then it turned into an emotion he could not place. She ran a hand through her hair as she let out a exasperated sigh, "Do you have any idea what I am to your brother, boy?"

With a bit of a snarl in his words he growled out, "You're his contractor. You are just like V.V. was, you promise power-"

He was surprised and unnerved when the stoic woman before him responded in a voice of barely controlled anger, "Watch your words boy. You have no idea how things work here, only having ever met that demented man-child."

Taken aback he studied the change in the woman's posture, she had tensed while he spoke, pulling that yellow blob thing closer to her as she stopped laying on the bed moving into a cross legged sitting position. She was glared at him for a moment before to his surprise her expression again changed into one he could not identify.

She patted the bed next to herself, "Sit boy. It is time you learned about a great many things it seems."

Nervous and wary he made his way over to the bed and took a seat, never looking away from the woman in front of him.

She just sat there, and he started to feel like a fool. Then she shook her head as if she was trying to throw off a fly, "I will not ask you how your Geass works boy, you already pay too much of a price for V.V.'s meddling. No, I will start much more simply. What do you know of the contract all those with Geass swear?"

He stopped to think, all of the people he had meet all swore the same oath. Lelouch however wouldn't have sworn that oath. Curious about the oath his big brother made he answered the question, "I swore to protect and serve the Geass Order."

The woman perked up at that and the first smile he had seen since they walked into the room formed on her face, "Now that is interesting, but I asked you about the contract between the users of Geass and us Contractors?"

Confused and worried about what she was hinting he shrugged. The thought that V.V. could control him, make him do things, put his big brother in danger swirled through his mind.

His mind stopped when that witch put her hand on his shoulder and pulled him towards her. She was holding him, just as big brother had done moments before, and it was soothing. He felt himself relax in her arms almost against his own will as she started to speak, "You would never have learned of the bond that forms between the contractor and Geass user, not with V.V. in charge. He would have had to interact with you to nurture the connection..."

She seemed to space out for a moment, "That connection, it gets harder to maintain based off the number of people the Contractor has given Geass."

He couldn't stop himself, he wanted to understand what she was talking about and this weird woman was explaining so much to him, "But V.V. has made hundreds of contracts!"

He was worried for a moment as the woman holding him tensed and could only just hear here mumble, "You stupid child, William. You always thought of yourself as being much stronger than you are."

He had no idea who the woman was talking about and was going to demand an answer but she continued talking as though that never happened, "Yes, that would explain so much. I myself only have two active contracts. When did you receive your Geass Rolo?"

He wanted to demand who this person other than big brother was, and who this William she was talking about earlier was, but he would not risk the explanation stopping, "Four, maybe five, I don't really remember."

He felt it then and jerked back out of the woman's hold ready to defend himself. He was brought up short by what he saw though, The woman looked confused that he had broken from her grasp, and the liquid he had felt hit his neck was not poison or some such substance like he had thought but a tear from her watering eyes. Her arms stayed where they were held out as though they were to welcome him back in. He was so confused that after a moment when she made to wrap her arms around him again he didn't protest.

It was worrisome that he felt so odd and out of place in her arms but still felt comfortable. He didn't really know her or trust her, but as she spoke in a choked up voice he listened, "You poor child." Her hands pulled him close to her, "You were horribly used by so many... You don't understand, and when you woke up remembering what would be your future, you ran as fast as possible to return to the one person that was ever kind to you."

He didn't understand what she was trying to do as he felt his chest constrict, his heart seemed to be being squished in his ribcage, "Do you want to know what you mean to Lelouch, boy?"

He wanted to scream and demand to be told, but all he could manage was a strained whimpered, "Yes."

She pulled back just enough to look him in the eyes, "When a Contractor connects to a new Geass user we see their entire life. Your brother hated you for so long as in his mind he saw you trying to replace Nunnally, then you killed Shirley, a girl that he loved deeply, because you felt Lelouch should love only you." He could feel his heart shattering, he knew that Lelouch would use him like V.V., but he had hoped...

The woman was still staring at his eyes, but as she continued her voice became bitter, "Then... Then I lost my memories, Nunnally died and the Black Knights betrayed him, and your foolish brother decided that everything would be better if he just died. To his shock you saved him, putting so much effort into it that you died to save him, having complete faith in him as your big brother. A faith he knew was completely misplaced, but a faith that restored his faith in himself while adding another name to the list of his regrets."

He was shaking, unable to understand what this woman was saying. Did his big brother hate him or not. It was so confusing, why couldn't she just talk straight.

He didn't even notice when the door opened, but he did notice when Lelouch's voice loudly cut through the air, "What have you done to him?!"

He turned to see the man he thought of as his big brother standing tall and proud, with a regal air of power about him. His brother's eyes seemed to be trying to glare a hole in the woman next to him. He jumped up, his need to know overriding any other thought in his head, and grabbed on to Lelouch, "Do you love me brother? It was all a lie right, you love me!"

He clung to his brother too afraid of what he had done to even look at Lelouch let alone say anything else. It seemed like an eternity before his big brother spoke, "Rolo, you are and will always be my little brother. A third sibling of the Lamperouge Family if you will, no less important than the others..."

His heart felt like it had reformed, although he could feel it just waiting to explode again. His big brother did love him, he had a family here, it was real. As his big brother trailed off he looked up to see Lelouch staring at the woman before he scowled, "That was a horrible thing you did C.C., you should have waited so that we could explain."

He could hear the woman's voice. It was much calmer now. more level than when she had held him, "I saw everything within the boy Lelouch, and he needed to know. He needed to understand everything. He is so cut off from himself that he didn't even feel me touch his mind."

An eerie shiver raced down his spine at those words, but his big brother continued, "Yes but he needed to be eased into this C.C. He is my responsibility to take care of. I promised him I would help him."

When the woman didn't reply, Lelouch looked down at him. His big brother's eyes were not harsh, nor were they soft like they had been when he ran to him, they were somewhere in between. He couldn't help but feel uneasy, his brother said he loved him, but those eyes... They looked at him like there was a test he had to pass first.

"I promised you Rolo that I would be a better brother this time. I will swear it again, but you must as well. Together we will be a family, we will take care of each other; you, C.C., Nunnally and myself."

He hadn't realized he had stopped shaking till that point, as he started to shake again. He could feel tears welling up in his eyes as he clung to his brother.

He flinched when another set of arms wrapped around him from behind as Lelouch continued, "However, Rolo there are rules that you must follow ok?"

He nodded his head into his brother's chest not trusting his own voice to speak, "Two simple rules ok?"

Lelouch seemed to be waiting so he replied as he tried to cover a sniffle, as such weakness should never be shown, "Yes big brother."

The woman holding him from behind cut in, in a much softer voice, "You don't need to act tough with us Rolo. You don't need to hide your weakness with people who care about you." He knew she truly believed what she said, even if he thought she was just a naive fool.

"Rolo. The first rule is simple, I want you to talk to me everyday ok."

He gawked at his brother for a moment, not able to understand what Lelouch was getting at. Lelouch's voice was soft and bitter with regret when he spoke, "Last time... Last time we had problems that were caused because you felt like you were unimportant. As my younger brother I never want you to feel that way is that clear. I want you to come to me with any problems you have so we can work them out. Do you understand what I mean?"

He knew what his brother was saying and his voice caught in his throat. He had killed that peppy girl that liked big brother. He had known it would hurt big brother, but the girl had known that Lelouch was Zero and she had had to die. A small voice in the back of his mind called out, 'Liar'. He tried to ignore it, but he knew the voice was right, even if that was his argument as to why he killed the girl. The reason he really had done what he had done was because she was a risk that might take his big brother away from him.

"Rolo this is serious. Do you understand? I can't have you killing people that I care about. I promised I will be a better brother, but I can't be worried that I will wake up and you will have killed..."

As his brother voice trailed off he blurted out in a rough voice, "But she knew you were Zero!"

He turned around in the embrace to face the woman when she softly spoke, "Rolo, you deeply hurt your brother when you killed Shirley."

The words he had denied, that he had hurt his big brother made him want to run away and hide but they only held him tighter. "But she knew and she... If she told anyone they would have taken big brother from me!"

He felt both people with their arms around him stiffen for a moment before Lelouch spoke in a soft voice, "You wanted to make sure I wasn't taken away?"

He fervently nodded his head in response, and he noticed that a sad smile appeared on his brother face, "I'm so sorry Rolo. This time, you will not need to worry. I will be telling people once I am ready to."

He looked at his brother in confusion and worry, why would his big brother risk that. They might make him go away, but then his thoughts turned grim. Last time they had not been told, and as a result they had tried to kill big brother. If they ever tried again he would kill them.

With a sharp nod of his head, that seemed to shock his brother, "I understand big brother, but what if they try to take you away?"

Lelouch seemed to think for a moment before replying, "Detain them, if nothing else knowing why and for what reason they are doing that would be helpful."

Nodding slowly he waited, and he waited for what seemed like a full minute feeling slightly awkward before he felt the woman kick big brother, "Ouch. Oh yeah. Secondly Rolo, I don't want you using your power unless necessary. That is non negotiable, understand?"

He really did try to make it not come out as a whine, "But big brother."

"No. I will not let you die again because of that Geass. If need be I will use my own Geass on you to make sure you follow this rule is that understood."

He froze looking at his big brother in desperation, "But... but then what will I do big brother? I want to help, you said that's what family does!"

The woman started laughing as his brother pulled him closer, "What will you do? Right now we will be going to your room and setting everything up for you to live there. Tomorrow we will be getting you enrolled in Ashford Academy. In the future, you will be a part of this I need you to help me I will explain what is happening to you beforehand. Right now though, right now I don't want you fighting. I want you safe with us, making new memories, real memories ok?"

He had already been crying a little, a few tears had escaped which he hadn't been able to stop, but at the idea of having real memories and his own room being given to him by Lelouch he started bawling. He couldn't help it, he kept thanking big brother, and his loving big brother brushed it off even though half the time it wasn't even words.

Eventually they made it to the guest room, his room now he corrected himself. The bed was ready when they got there and a new set of clothes was already set out. Confused, he turned toward his big brother and that woman who were standing in the doorway with big brother's arm around the woman. Big brother seemed to already know what he was asking, "When I said goodnight to Nunnally I got everything ready and set up in this room for you. Now come say goodnight, and in the morning I'll speak with the Ashford's about getting you enrolled ok?"

As he hugged his brother goodnight the woman wrapped her arms around him. At first he was annoyed but then she spoke, "Good night little Rolo."

After she kissed him on the head and he felt himself redden. Big brother came to his rescue to his pleasure, "C.C. don't tease the boy, its mean."

The woman chuckled back, "What are you jealous Lelouch? Are you jealous of your cute little brother?"

He froze staring at the woman as his brother gaped at her like a fish, then she turned towards him and studied him for a second before her face turned mischievous, "Don't worry Lelouch, he is a little young for my taste, so you needn't worry. He is rather cute though... Maybe someone his own age?"

Big brother's face reddened and as he grabbed the woman, C.C., and pulled her out of the room she said goodnight one last time, "Sleep well Rolo. I'll be back early in the morning about whether you have classes tomorrow ok?"

He just nodded watching the door close as Lelouch dragged the woman into the hallway with her laughing all the way back to their room. He was sure he understood what was going on between those two now. That annoying Japanese man had been right last time, that woman was having sex with big brother. She had said something though that worried big brother and he had to know what it was. If he could help big brother...

Running to the door he listened intently to what he could hear, he had to strain himself, but all he could make out was big brother, "No... not Nunnally... nice boy... he's my brother!" He couldn't figure out what they were talking about with all the missing pieces, so he promised himself he would find out so he could take care of big brother. His only clue was Nunnally, he realized bitterly. Throwing himself on the bed he forced that frail waif out of his mind, letting the joy that his brother loved him fill himself as he started to fall asleep without even undressing.

****G's G****

Jeremiah was more than a little surprised by the simple one story house. There was nothing extravagant about it but everything still gave off a feeling of comfort. He hoped that the 'clubhouse' the Prince and Princess were forced to live in was furnished similarly; it might not be much but it gave off a feeling he could only describe as being homely.

Looking over at the owner of the small house he still could not believe she had insisted that she'd make him dinner when she found out that he had not eaten today. He was truly thankful that with his failure to find the Prince and Princess someone so caring had been able to look after them.

"May I ask you a question?"

She turned ever so slightly while cooking to regard him at his question, "You may."

"I… I never really got an answer to my first question from the Prince. How is the young Princess? I have spent more then one night worrying about her and… Is she happy? What is she like? Has she ever smiled since what had happened to her?"

The Japanese woman turned around fully to meet his eyes as he sat there feeling slightly uncomfortable under her intense gaze, "The young mistress spends most of her time smiling, and from my observations her happiness, her kind and gentle nature, and her carefree innocence makes that smile infectious amongst those that she spends time with. While she unfortunately does not have many friends in her year, I have always felt that was because she has such a close bond to her brother. All of the young master's friends however see the young mistress as a younger friend or in the young Heiress Ashford's case I would almost say she sees Nunnally as the younger sister she never had."

He couldn't help but smile at the thought that the Princess had such close friends, even if the fact that those her own age do not treat her as well as they should bothered him greatly. He would have to come up with a way to remedy that somehow.

There was more important things to do right now, "Thank you."

She just shrugged, "It was noth-"

"I didn't mean for answering my questions, or even for letting me stay here. Thank you for looking after them, for all these years."

One delicate eyebrow rose, "Looking after the young Master and Mistress has long since stopped being a job and become a part of my life. I no more need thanks for it than for being alive, and I will continue to look after them and protect them. Even from yourself if I need to Sir Knight."

He ducked his head to stifle the chuckle at the thought of this lithe woman trying to stop him and as he went to speak...

*Thwack*

He blinked at the table in front of him then up at the maid who was closing the silverware drawer then back at the table. Then back up as she began to speak again, "I apologize that I only have one futon here so you will be relegated to sleeping on the couch. Here is your dinner. Do not stay up late; it's not often I do not sleep at the clubhouse and will have to get up extra early to make it there on time."

His brain finally rebooted as she closed the door to her bedroom after dropping off his dinner, and he was annoyed. Yes he had been missing from their lives for seven years trying to find them, but this was too much. He was a Knight, it was his job to protect the Prince and Princess. How was he suppose to compete with the maid/guardian they have had taking care of them who also happened to be a secret ninja if the kunai that was still quivering in the coffee table was an indicator.

He couldn't help but pout at how cruel the world was. He finally finds those he was looking for and anything he would have wanted to do for them was already filled by a perfect japanese woman that could do it ten times better than he ever could...

****G's G****

Suzaku stared down at the confusing text in front of him that Lloyd had told him to read. He had managed to slog his way through the user manual for the Lancelot with a little help from Lloyd and Cécile, this however he could not even begin to understand. It was a 'basic' explanation of how the Blaze Luminous system worked, and he couldn't even understand much of the introduction.

The problem was he did not know what to do about it. He knew that this chance to be a pilot of a new experimental Knightmare could help vault him to a position where he could really help people so he could not risk losing it, but he still needed help.

With a heavy sigh he made up his mind and put down the pile of papers a little forcefully as he started making his way through the lab towards the eccentric scientist.

He had almost made it the full way before Lloyd spun around and smiled widely at him, "Ah I see you have finally given up on that. Good now we can really start moving forward. Cécile you put the manual at junior level science correct? And the Blaze Luminous write up is at basic university level, so that means my idea is what we are going with."

Perplexed and surprisingly more confused than he had been so far, as Lloyd seemed to have a knack at confusing people, he was more then glad when Cécile started to explain, "It's ok Suzaku, there is no need to worry. Lloyd pointed out the other day after you had returned to the barracks that your education was lacking and we had been looking into ways to fix that, but we needed to find a benchmark so to speak. As it stands I will be completely frank with you. Neither myself or Lloyd are very skilled as teachers and for something like high school level science, which to us is extremely easy, we would not be able to teach you well. So our standby is to find a proper school for you to attend."

"You mean…"

As he trailed off Lloyd wrapped an arm around his shoulders, "Yessir young man, it looks like you are off to school, and if you need help with anything ask Cécile as she is more likely to want to help with anything you need. And honestly we should see about just getting it so you can skip useless things like economics and history. Free up more time for important things like Science and Maths you will be needing those."

He quietly wiped away some of the wetness from his eyes as he sent a silent prayer for being allowed to go back to a real school, all the while Cécile started yelling at Lloyd about how there would be no limiting of his education.

****G'S G****

Sayoko tried to put everything that had happened this morning in perspective as she placed the breakfast platter in front of mistress Nunnally, knowing full well that though the young mistress was blind she hated having anyone except her brother feed her.

She had left Sir. Gottwald at her home where he would be spending the day looking into everything he would need to get his trip planned. Then she had arrived at the clubhouse to find the young master and a young boy he introduced as Rolo Lamperouge saying that the younger boy would be staying with them indefinitely and he was to be treated as family.

Shaking everything from her mind she focused on the present charge.

"Your breakfast; pancakes with a light layering of syrup, Mistress Nunnally."

The young mistress grabbed her knife and fork with practice precision and started in on her favorite breakfast before stopping and with a slight frown, which Sayoko could never remember seeing on the young mistress' face when pancakes were around asked, "Lady Sayoko, did Lady C.C. stay the night last night?"

She bit back a chuckle at the question, it was endearing that the young mistress was concerned that her big brother now had another girl in the picture to dote on, not that the young master would ever neglect the young mistress. "Yes Mistress Nunnally she did. Why do you ask?"

The young mistress seemed to be having trouble with what to say until she blurted, "They didn't get into a fight did they? I heard raised voices last night Lady Sayoko, and I really like Lady C.C. when I met her at dinner the other day."

'Well then', she thought, mistress was concerned for her older brother, or maybe more so she was concerned for C.C., but either way it was sweet. Smiling sweetly at her mistress, "You need not worry Lady Nunnally, to my knowledge your brother did not get into an argument with C.C."

She sent a fleeting glance at the door wondering if C.C. was even awake yet, the young master had said she was in his room asleep and she had not checked, "Your brother told me a little bit of what happened last night but he wished to explain everything to you. He however left early this morning to meet with Mr. Ashford."

Nunnally cocked her head to the side, confusion clearly written across her face, "But Lelouch never gets up early unless Milly is making them do something before classes."

Sitting down in the chair next to the young mistress she started to explain as best as she could based off of what Lelouch had told her this morning, "Last night when your brother returned he had brought with him a young man from Britannia. Master Lelouch said that he will be staying here indefinably and has gone to ask Mr. Ashford to let him into the school."

She hesitated for a moment before continuing, "Your brother did not explain why he did this, but he introduced the young man as Rolo Lamperouge."

She hoped that the young mistress did not take this badly, as the younger girl gasped. A marathon of emotions raced across the young mistress' face before she finally blurted, "But aren't brother and Lady C.C. too young to adopt."

Completely flummoxed, she had no idea how to answer the young mistress' question. She was eternally grateful when light laughter coming from the doorway greeted her ear as Lady C.C. cut in, "You're not an Aunty yet Nunnally. I'll explain everything about cute little Rolo, don't you worry Nunnally."

The smirk that was on the green haired woman's face made her feel like master Lelouch would not be very happy with this conversation, but she was curious too, so this time she would just let it slide.


	8. The Knight's Quest

Remember I own nothing within the Code Geass Universe, with the exception of my OCs and honestly I really can't claim half of those either.

P.S. The poll has been taken down. While I will not be changing the plot in any way I will make sure to show more of what the poll showed you wanted to see.

Black Knights 35/52

Ashford Academy 26/52

Cornelia and her men 24/52

Royals of Pendragon 19/52

Annabeth 18/52

Suzaku and The Lancelot Group 9/52

Chapter 7: The Knight's Quest

Kaguya stared across the small table as she waited for Master Kirihara to speak. She refused to be the first one to speak after he all but demanded that she meet with him today. However, she had things to do and she could not let this silence continue indefinitely.

Finally Master Kirihara put down his cup of tea, "I believe you have read the reports of this Zero. I am curious as to your opinion of him?"

That was an oddly straight forward question to have come from her mentor. Assuming that this meant this was more an actual discussion rather than one of his impromptu lessons, "He is brave, and if he did send those good to the JLF and the Blood of The Samurai he is well connected. The attack he planned on the Ichihara Base shows he has a good grasp of tactics as well as an understanding of how Britannia will react in most situations."

He nodded along with her assessment and she knew he was judging her for something. A moment later he spoke again, "There is something I was informed of personally about the shipments to the JLF that did not make it into the reports from General Katase."

She had long considered the JLF a drain on the limited resources that Kyoto actually had, but this caused a new well of annoyance to bubble up towards them. Any response she would have made was halted by Master Kirihara raising his hand as he continued, "Colonel Tohdoh personally came and informed me that in the back of each of the trucks was a simple letter addressed to him. Each letter said 'My debt is not forgotten'."

She frowned across the table at him; there was only one person who fit the requirement that would have Master Kirihara meet her first before taking this to the rest of Kyoto House, "While the idea is appealing I do not see my wayward cousin returning to us in such a fashion. There must be others that would be in debt to Tohdoh, there are many that Colonel Tohdoh saved during the invasion."

Kirihara's wrinkled face nodded sagely, "Your assumption of what I meant is not correct, although Colonel Tohdoh believes it is your cousin as well so I shall not fault you. However, I do not disagree with your assessment. I believe it is another who could fit in being responsible for all of this, the exiled prince."

Memories of her time spent at the Kururugi Shrine with a little girl in a wheelchair and a handsome dark haired boy flashed through her mind, "You think they survived all this time?"

A dismissive shrug accompanied what he said next "I do not know. Surely the prince himself could have; as to his sister I am uncertain. It would be unfortunate if she passed and he did not but it is not up to us to decide these things. That is not what I called you here to discuss, though that man Kewell did stress that this Gottwald was once a guard of Marianne Vi Britannia. I believe that if it is the lost Prince he could well be recruiting Britannians to fight alongside him as well."

She tilted her head to the side in thought, "Say you are right about Zero being Lelouch. Most of Kyoto House would be hesitant or flat out refuse to back him simple due to that. If he has Britannians fighting alongside him as well, I don't see anyone other than myself voting to send Zero aid, let alone actually support him."

"That is sadly true my dear. Even I would not be able to convince any of them if it became too readily apparent. They do not understand that times have changed..."

Filing that admittance away to think about later she asked, "Then what did you call me here for exactly?"

Figuring that this could take a while and just wanting to know where this was going she was rewarded with a reproachful look, "I believe that it is time to look back into that Great Plan you made as a child."

She felt her face heat up at that. She had always been interested in politics as a child and would often listen in on the meetings her Uncle held. She had wanted to help so one day she had voiced to her Uncle and a few of his advisors an idea to stop any chance of fighting. It basically boiled down to the idea that Lelouch and her would get married while slowly getting Nunnally and Lelouch completely enamored with the culture of Japan. Then with his children so connected to the nation Emperor Charles would be hesitant to attack and risk killing them. She had been young and never thought in a million years that a father would so callously throw away his children.

It had been then though that Kirihara, who had been a high ranking advisor to her Uncle, had taken her in as his apprentice and became her mentor in the areas of Business and politics. She was surprised when she answered without stammering, "I would need to change a lot of things for the idea. But if he could lead the military, I could be in charge of the bureaucracy."

****G's G****

"So simply your plan for disciplinary action is to do nothing then Admiral?"

Nelson Lenahan barely managed to withhold a sigh as he stared at Prince Jasper on his desk's display, "Prince Jasper, as I have explained before there is little I can do about the situation without causing a lot of problems within The Fourth Pacific Fleet stationed here at Area 12. With the ever present danger of the Chinese encroaching on the islands we claim in Area 17 as well as our ever present fighting with the Australians in Areas 7 and 14 I cannot risk causing problems like that. If I was to remove all the Honorary Britannians I use as sailors because of the insubordinate actions of one man I would not have the men I need to run my fleet, and at the same time I cannot discipline Captain Sonia Franklin. She is the cousin through her mother of your half brother Prime Minister Schneizel. I know you understand the mess that could result; you yourself are High Admiral of the Britannian Indian Fleet."

He tried to ignore the look thrown at him as Prince Jasper's face contorted into a grimace, "This is not the first time one of the captains stationed under you has raised a complaint to me about her actions with what I believe is a specific Number."

"That is true Prince Jasper. However, there is little I can do about it. I am just an Admiral, I can not just question the Prime Minister's decisions and he made it clear where he stands on her deployment when she was assigned to work with me in Area 12."

Prince Jasper sneered, "Then so be it you pathetic worm. You are dismissed." Jasper then ended the call.

Rubbing his temples to try and resolve the headache that was already forming he addressed the person on the other side of his desk, "Sonia what the hell have I told you before? I don't care what you and Bayani do but don't do it on base."

Across from him the young female captain continued to glare at him from under her shoulder length blonde hair with her arms folded angrily across her chest, "Why can't you be as afraid of me as you act?"

"God damn it woman. This job is already stressful enough as it is, but I personally attribute every single gray hair on my head to you. Why? Just why can't you follow the only non-combat related order I have ever given you?"

"I love him, he loves me. I see no reason to keep that hidden."

He slammed his head down on his desk, absently noting he was going to need a haircut soon as he could see his hair as he did so, with just a few grays mixed in with his sandy blonde. "Sonia we have worked together for four years now, you know I don't care and think you two are adorable. But even your cousin is dismissive of you because of what you are doing. I'm not saying don't see him, but just don't do it on base. For fuck sake you own a house off base so use the damn thing."

Sonia stood up to tower over him….at her impressive four feet eleven inches, "That's not how an Admiral should act you know."

Waving his hand dismissively, "I didn't end up Admiral of a fleet because I was good at dealing with people as you know. I'm here because I won the Battle of Sulu Sea-"

"Yes I know. You commanded a Battleship, four destroyers and two squads of Portman knightmares and managed to sink two Chinese aircraft carriers, two chinese battleships and half dozen destroyers while only losing two of your destroyers, I know. I just wish you would take my side."

"Sonia I am taking your side. When I get these calls from Prince Jasper and Princess Guinevere I can't just tell them no or to shove off. They are Royalty. I do the best I can to make sure you and Bayani are left alone but you make that really difficult. Before you interrupt we both know you went searching him out like always. Now if you don't mind I have other problems to solve."

Sonia started walking towards the door and then stopped, "There is one thing. I know you were looking into that old friend of yours yesterday. You know the one from Area 11. I checked with my cousin. The guy never came back after the Terrorist took him. Who was he anyway?"

That felt like a stab in the back to be honest, he hadn't talked to Jeremiah in years but damn the man had been the only one of them to stay in Area 11 when they had lost every trace of finding the Prince and Princess. The guy had been grief ridden after everything, and he couldn't help but think that maybe if someone had still been helping him none of this would have happened. "He was a good friend of mine a long time ago. We started as guards at Ares Villa together. After The Empress was killed I joined the Navy and he joined the Purists. It's a pity. He was a great man back then, full of a zeal and honor and sadly I really have not seen much of that since I joined the Navy."

****G's G****

There was a sense of dread seeping into his chest as time went by. Jeremiah had assumed that this would be an easy job, just look up the former guardsmen of Ares Villa and anyone else he can think of off the top of his head that might support the Prince.

If he was honest with himself he would admit that he did not completely agree with what was going on but he was loyal to the Prince and the Vi Britannia line.

However, that being said there was definitely something going on. He had so far managed to locate ten former guardsmen he had served with and only one was still alive. How had he missed this? How had he lost track of everyone so much that he he didn't know that Lily and Amber had died. They had joined him and Nelson as guards at Ares Villa at the same time. They had all been about the same age and had become good friends in their short time there, and they had even come to Japan directly after the invasion but had been reassigned after he had been promoted…

Even then though if he included himself in the search, that made two alive out of eleven…

Looking again at the report of Lily and Amber's death he felt an odd chill run down his spine as words seemed to jump off the screen at him. 'Suicide mission', 'the entire squad killed before they reached the enemy', 'Investigation stopped by OSI', and worst of all 'despite ample resources no attempt to ever retake objective ever made'.

There was just something there that really worried him. Not that he really understood why they needed the objective to begin with, a mildly reinforced radar station? Yeah it's not that important but there were definitely not enough people guarding that section to take the squad out...

****G's G****

Princess Catherine Du Britannia wiped the tears from her eyes as she looked at his picture on her nightstand. Her brother Clovis had been the only one in her family that believed in her and encouraged her talents. He had even come to Berlin to see her for three days when she had performed as Cosette in Les Miserable last spring.

Three years ago when she had asked her father if she could move to Europe to learn how to act, sing and write as they had the best artist in all the world, it had been Clovis who helped her find someone to live with in Europe that met her father's demands.

She had thought he had set the impossible task to her at the age of ten purely as a way of saying no without actually saying no. Someone that is well connected in the EU, was born in Britannia and served in the Britannian Military with honor. That seemed impossible, but Clovis had swept in and sat her down and they had gone through a pile of files before they had found someone.

Denise Wolken nee Longstride had been the daughter of some minor Baron somewhere in Area 4 before she had enrolled in the Britannian officer academy of Area 3. She had excelled and been put on the fast track for going places within the army but had been offered a position by Marianne Vi Britannia to work as one of her guardsmen. The young new officer had instantly agreed and moved to Pendragon the next day. While working there she had met her future husband Randolph Wolken, then a diplomatic representative from the EU to Britannia. Despite the controversy of this relationship the Empress had refused to remove her from her guards. After the assassination of Marianne, she had moved to the EU with her husband and their three daughters. While Denise herself had retired to take care of her daughters, Randolph was currently a high ranking government official even though his exact position was still unknown to her.

Denise had agreed instantly when asked and Catherine made her way to Germany. Better yet she had instantly made friends with the Wolken girls, even with the difference in age, With her being ten at the time and they had been in order fourteen, twelve and and nine. The eldest Annemarie was an avid painter and intended to become professional at her skill. The middle daughter Christina is still in the same acting group as her despite intending to go to University for an engineering degree. The youngest Becky was a mixed sort and had no one thing she enjoyed, in reality she was like any normal twelve year old child.

In truth she loved all five of them. They took her in, they encouraged her, they cared for her and treated her like she was important without fawning over her. No one had ever done that before, except Clovis.

She jumped a little as she felt a hand come to rest on her shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze, before she heard Denise's calming voice, "Prime Minister Schneizel has asked if you will be traveling to Pendragon to be there for the burial of the Prince? He knows you cared deeply for him and were not there for the funeral so he felt the need to ask."

Her voice came out scratchy from crying, "Would… Would you be able to come with me?"

There was a flinch and Denise's voice was sad, "It would be a family only event Princess. So no, we would not be able to be there with you."

Shaking her head with more force than she had intended to she all but cried, "No! I… I couldn't be there… I couldn't do it without you, and Annemarie, and Tina, and Becky…"

She was cut off from her rambling when Denise pulled her into a hug and started running a hand through her aquamarine hair, "Shhhhhh… Don't worry. We will be right here as long as you need us. I understand the pain losing family. We will do anything you need us too."

Nodding her head against the older woman she bit back tears at the loss of her brother, and also at the stark realization that she wanted these people, the Wolkens, were who she wanted to turn to for help. Not her family, not her Homeland, and that hurt more then the death of her brother.

****G's G****

He tried to calm his heart rate as he continued to read. It was almost noon and he had not stopped his search for people yet. He had only found two guards still alive so far, along with twenty one obituaries and two shelved to come back to later as he could find nothing about them at all.

Mostly though it was just stories that read a lot like this one.

Hale Desmond was Britannian that had returned to his family's home in Area 3 after taking part in the invasion of Area 11 and became an activist of sorts trying to improve life in Area 3. He argued that Area 3 had been a part of the Empire for a long time and the citizens should be regarded as full-blooded Britannians as well, just like Area 1 and 2. It was very controversial and more than a few Nobles had been very outspoken against him.

Then if the report of his death was true, something that he personally was really starting to doubt, Hale insulted a local gang of numbers and they had killed him in a very grotesque fashion. It just made no sense at all, why would they kill a man that had tried to help them so much. Then again he would never had taken a second look or had a second thought about looking at such news report before today...

****G's G****

Roger Davidson looked down at the dead body and back at his gun with disgust, and as usual when he had to do this thought about how far he had fallen.

He had been in his early forties when Lady Marianne had been murdered, so when he had tried to reintegrate himself into the army they had wanted nothing to do with him. He was to old to return to being a field commander in the infantry like he had been, and his reputation had been tainted when after the attack he had stayed at the hospital guarding the door to the Princess rather than staying at the Villa.

Needing a job to support his wife and kids he had approached his family, they might not have been nobles but they were rich and he had hoped they could help him find a job. They had directed him to his brother-in-law the Duke of Quebec and he had been so grateful he had agreed to become one of the man's guards on the spot. The Duke's men had brought him to a small celebration that night, and he liked to blame the fact they had drugged him. but as soon as they had pointed as some innocent numbers they had imprisoned and said they had helped kill Marianne he had lost it.

He had brutally beat them to death, two young women and a young man probably in their teens…

He had woken up the next morning horrified and gone to the Duke to demand answers, only for Duke Elric to laugh at him. The Duke then explained that everything was recorded, and while most people would not care about the death of a few insignificant numbers if the video got out he would never get a job again and would possible if the right wheels were greased even get jail time.

Since then he had been nothing more than an enforcer for the Duke to use against anyone he wanted.

This man had done nothing wrong but be in the wrong place at the wrong time. He had been driving in front of the Duke's limousine the other day and drove too slowly making the Duke almost late to an important business meeting.

He turned around to get out of this house and back to his wife. She didn't know exactly what was happening but she knew it was bad, and she always knew how to make things better. At this point he had sold his soul to the devil and there was no turning back. But he had paid off his house and put his two kids through college, and he had to hold onto the fact that if he had not taken this job that would never have happened. He had to hold onto that as it was really the only positive aspect of his life he had left.

****G's G****

Taichi looked around the room at the rest of the council in utter disbelief, "You have to be kidding me. The plan is to just disregard the warning that we received even though everything else that that the message said would happen came true?"

Ishida snorted, "And what would be your master plan boy? Run to this Zero and beg for protection? Give up the group we have spent seven years building to fight Britannia to some new welp with a disproportionate sense of importance?"

"No. I am saying we should be prepared for an attack. We should start evacuating some our resources and men to another location. If Cornelia does move against us we do not have the ability to successfully repel a full out attack here. Doing nothing is tantamount to suicide."

"Then we will die with honor."

A quick scan of the room saw everyone present seemed to share that idea and with so many of their regular members allowed to sit in on this meeting from what he could tell the commanders had allowed them here just to whip them up into setting themselves up to die, and that needed to change.

Catching Ishida's sneer he stood up to speak, "NO, you will not be dying with honor. You will be dying for pride, you will be dying for your own arrogance. There is no honor in throwing away your life for nothing. We are one of the strongest resistance forces in Japan. Do you realize what kind of loss of moral it would be if we were destroyed? Or have you just given up on Japan? Have you decided that freeing Japan is just something you will never see, and have decided you need to go out like heroes instead? Well I'm not done fighting, I still can see a future where we are free again and I am sure I am not the only one here that can see that."

His impromptu speech ended it was silent for a second before Ishida growled, actually growled, before he spoke, "Then get out. We have no need of fools like you child. Go run along with your tail between your legs in fear, go grovel before this Zero and see if that helps you."

His eyes hardened, "Continuity is power, or have you forgotten what our country stood for in the last seven years. I was made a part of this council because you were afraid. And now you would sacrifice every single man and woman here to sate your pride because you're afraid of the new guy that has managed more in a half a dozen days then you have in SEVEN years. If you want me out fine, I'll leave, but if there is anyone else here that still believes in Japan, and still has faith that Japan can be free, I advise you follow me."

He started storming out before his words had even registered with the people in the meeting. He slammed the door to the room open to the sound of the council members yelling. He ignored them as he continued walking, maybe it would be a good time to check in on his mother and little sister.

He was almost out of the hallway when he heard someone running up behind him and he turned around. He was not surprised to see Daisuke, the boy would have followed him everywhere but there were almost forty people walking down the hallway towards him and he knew more than a few of them by name.

"We always followed you captain. Even when they made you part of the council we still followed you."

He let a smile make it's way onto his face. It might not even be a quarter of their total group but if he could save even this many it would be a good thing.

Quickly taking charge he started barking orders, "Daisuke grab some people and go get everything we could possible need to stay as a working resistance group. Koushiro I see you over there. I have a special job for you so get over here. The rest of you get your stuff we are moving out."

He went back to walking as the redhead that used to be his second in command came running up to him, "What's the plan Taichi?"

"I need you to find this Zero. I won't give up what we have here but we need help. Those fools might be willing to throw away their lives for no reason but I am not. If he really is as good as he seems he might be able to help us."

There was silence for a second, "How am I supposed to find him? Until yesterday no one had ever heard of him."

Turning towards Koushiro he smiled, "Go to Shinjuku. This all started there, and supposedly they pulled some raid yesterday when this Zero was making a fool out of those Britannians. That kind of timing is not a coincidence."

****G's G****

It was always bad news when it was Guilford welcoming him alone at a new place. All he did was merely signal the younger man to explain what was happening as he walked down the plane's ramp.

"It's not good Darlton. Her Highness wants to meet with you right away to get an update on when and how her men will be arriving?"

He raised an eyebrow, "Are the men here that lacking?"

Guilford didn't even try to cover his snort, "The soldiers for the most part seem to function properly, though they lack the alertness needed for the environment they find themselves stationed in. It's the officers that are the major problem, corruption, incompetence, far too many not qualified for the positions they find themselves in, and we even have found two that have been secretly working with the Chinese Federation to cause unrest within the Area. In short there are few people here we find we can trust, and fewer still that can do the job they are supposed to be able to."

Waving his hand in front of him, Dalton stated "Then lead the way."

Falling into step with Guilford as he lead the way to the consulate he thought of the implications of such a mess, before shaking his head to focus on the issue that had worried him most on the flight here, "How has the Princess handled being in Japan so far?"

Guilford if anything seemed to get more silent for a second, "The Princess has not stopped working since we arrived yesterday. If I was to be so bold I would say she is working herself to exhaustion to make sure she does not think about it."

Internally nodding he did have to agree as that was the Princess' usual method of dealing with anything stressful. He made a mental note to check in with her alone later and get her to talk about things, before returning to the original topic.

"So is there anyone that is proving to be any help here?"

Guilford nodded, "There are a few here and there that have proven themselves competent. Only one has really proven herself to the Princess though, a young Purist actually. She was sixth or so in the chain of command for the purists, but with everyone in front of her dead, missing or jailed she was placed in charge. Add to that the death of Prince Clovis along his personal command staff, and the way that Prince Clovis had…..forgive me for saying this but made a mess of the chain of command for this Area she found herself in charge of every aspect of the Military overnight and unable to trust anyone she had not personally reviewed, but in her defence she has tried to put forward enough effort to impress the Princess."

He nodded slowly, "And yourself? What do you think of her?"

Guilford was a little slower to answer this time, "I think she has been an immense help. However she is far to skittish around the Princess to likely last long."

"Well that is easily fixed is it not?"

"Maybe."

They fell into another easy silence as they made their way through the halls until they Guilford stopped in front of a door and scanned a passkey. The door slid open to a more formal meeting room. Within the Princess was hunched over the table surrounded by papers and maps.

She glanced up when the door opened and instantly straightened, "Good you are finally here General. How long before my full compliment is here in Area 11?"

"Your Highness, the men will be arriving by cargo plane over the next week, It will be another five days before all of our equipment arrives. Prince Jasper will be ferrying everything here by ship."

There was a slight frown from the Princess, "Well it can't be helped. Now come here and look at this for me."

As he moved around to look the door to the room closed. The Princess continued, "My brother had the exact location of one of these little terrorist groups but refused to move on them as he hoped it would lead him the bigger fish that was funding them. Right now however calls for a return strike on this filth. So we will start with this 'Blood of the Samurai', and then after we send that message we can start working on this project."

He accepted the folder she held out for him, looked at the title which was called 'Project Saitama' and had an eerie sense of worry crawl down his spine.

****G's G****

Sitting in the briefing room Marine Phillip Kelly would never believed he would have ended up here. In fact if you had asked him a year ago what he wanted to do with his life he would have calmly told you he wanted to grow up, get a degree and a job and marry his girlfriend.

His parents however had a much different plan for him. His family was just normal Britannians, not nobles or anything, but they had gone insane when they had finally met his girlfriend and realized she was a refugee from EU controlled Northern Africa. Due to her status she was not a number but she was at the bottom of the social ladder. In fact, if it wasn't for the fact that her father had good connections to many groups that opposed the EU in North Africa her family would never have been admitted into Britannia in the first place.

He never knew exactly what his parents had done, but he had found himself swiftly making his way to Basic training in the military. He would grudgingly admit that he was thankful that his parents at least enlisted him in the Imperial Navy, he was much more a fan of the ocean than anything else but what was done was done.

He had bowed his head and did the tasks assigned him without complaining, and surprisingly he had done exceedingly well. So well in fact that they had removed him from basic and into the training course for the Imperial Mechanized Amphibious Combat Operatives, called the Imperial Mako for short. The training had been grueling and drove him to the edge of his endurance but here he was, and he was proud of what he had accomplished. Especially now that so few people chose this route with using Portman being so much easier and all.

Then he had graduated and they were allowed to go home for a few months of leave, but he had asked to deploy early. With no desire to see his family and having a specific location he wanted to go to he had requested that he be deployed to Area 13.

Thus he had ended up here. And while he technically reported to Lieutenant Adams the man in charge of the entire Specialized Platoon was Captain Leroy Gibbs. The man had spoken to them once during training and it had been one of the most inspiring Lectures that Phillip had ever heard.

He had dug into everything he could find on the man's history. His first twenty years serving in the Southwest Pacific, his retirement to work as one of the guards for Empress Marianne the Flash, to him rejoining the Navy after her assassination, then all of his accomplishments and medals since then.

He snapped to attention as the door to the room flew open heralding the Captains entrance.

The Captain just looked at them all before sighing, "You are the youngest and most inexperienced squad. You have one right out of bootcamp, two that have been here a few months but have never been on an actual combat mission and a Lieutenant that has less than a year of experience. That being said you will get this job done. I don't have the manpower to send two squad on this mission, and I will need all three of the more experienced squads here soon. Prince Jasper is priming up for an offensive on mainland Africa soon and everyone will be needed at that time to land first is that understood?"

"Yes Sir" resounded through the room and the Captain nodded thoughtfully.

"Good. Adams pass out the assignments and we will go into detail, but the short explanation is this. Operation Lotus Petal is simple, the Chinese Indian Ocean Primary Fleet is currently docked at Jamnagar and they have been more active since we invaded Area 18. Prince Jasper wants to know what is going on there, is that understood?"

****G's G****

Jeremiah stared at the screen in abject horror. How did this report even make any sense? How did no one look into this? How could Princess Cornelia have ignored this when she was right at the center of it?

Aaron Duprey had not been all that much of a standout guy, but he had many years of service to his name as well a good mind for management. As such he had managed to continue his military job working with logistics in the Homeland.

By some twist of fate when he was supposed to have a meeting with Cornelia he had been confronted by OSI agents about allegations of embezzlement. Fleeing from them he had run headlong into the full wall window, jumped through it and fell eight stories to his death.

It sounded like the storyline to a crappy detective show. Yet this was the official report that was officially on file, and worse yet Cornelia had just accepted it. There had been no more in depth investigation, no questions asked, the case was just opened and shut.

This report had been honestly the last straw. How could this go on? How could they all have been so blind but a teenager, even if he is the Prince, could figure it out. Swallowing hard he opened up a different tab. He still had eight people he had not found yet, and he could only hope that some of them were alive. As of right now he only had four other guards.

****G's G****

It had been a long time since she had heard any of those names was all Selene Constance could think as she watched the video play behind the man speaking at the podium. It had been seven years since the Empress had died, seven years since she had heard that twirp Gottwald's name. He had always acted like he was the most loyal of all the guards, great for him, he had stayed in Japan, big deal. Marianne would not have wanted them to waste thier so all he really did was a disservice to her memory.

She herself had stayed in Japan for almost six months after the invasion. That was it though, after they had found no sign of the Vi Britannia's for so long she had left, getting a job working at the Britannian Embassy in Berlin. A job that sadly did not last long, as she had only been stationed there for a month before an OSI agent had accused her of treason and there was an attempt to assassinate her. She had managed to escape eventually, finding safety with the Russian forces but it had come at a cost. Casting a long look at her stump of a right arm she shook away those dreary thoughts and focused back on the man speaking.

Well she at least tried to. His boring tone of voice actively seemed to be lulling her to sleep, and she couldn't help but jokingly think that this was why the Russians were being pushed back on the Eastern Front. Rather than a rousing inspirational pep talk they received droning monologues before battle that made them have to function half asleep.

"Selene"

Her head jerked up as she looked down at the man that had called her name. During her inner musings the older man had moved off stage and the younger Commander Eric had moved on stage. He sneered at her, "Now that you are paying attention again comrade what does our expert on Britannian strategies believe is going on here."

"My opinions of this case with be prejudiced, just so you are aware."

He snorted, "We are aware of your Britannian heritage and military service, it is one of reasons you are considered our expert."

She smiled as sweetly as she could at the greaseball, "I assure you I am aware of that. I meant that the Britannian Purist that was captured served as a Guard at Ares Villa alongside myself. In fact if the trend I have stated that they wish to kill everyone ever associated with that place proves true this might have just saved his life. However, that is not what is important."

Standing up and making her way down to the stage, "May I ask for someone to set the display to the eastern half of Asia including both our Eastern Front all the way south to the Philippines? Thank You."

Turning to face the people in the seats taking a little joy from the complete shock she could see in many of their faces. It was not often she put herself on the stage to speak but this one was important so she stood to her full height of almost six foot and brushed a few locks of her teal hair behind her ear, "Britannia will respond in ways that are easy to predict. They won't take men from active fronts like our Eastern Front, or places close to different enemies like Korea, The Philippines, Papua New Guinea, or New Zealand. In fact they will likely only send a few battalions from the Homeland to help Cornelia, as she already has her own men arriving to help support her rule of Japan. So no it's not really a boon in the sense as the men stationed on our eastern front will not be leaving. However, if you use what has happened in Japan correctly it could be even be more help, as we have here one of their 'conquests' rising up and even killing a royal. This will shake most Britannians to the core, and will have them second guessing everything any non-Britannian does. This can be used to our advantage, a few actions from our agents could see Areas that Britannia has total control over erupting into protests and violence."

****G's G****

Closing the cabinet as he slid out a large frying pan Jeremiah felt like the weight of the world had come crashing down on his shoulders.

After not finding anything on the last three guards he was missing reports for in the last four hours he had given up. In truth though it made the facts all the more depressing; out of fifty six guardsmen he had found five alive, twenty nine dead from random accidents, eight dead from military combat, six dead due to terrorist attacks, five executed for being traitors and three still unaccounted for.

So all that was left was Nelson, Denise, Roger, Leroy, himself, and maybe Jaina, Melvin, and Tania. If any of those last three were alive though he had absolutely no idea where to even start looking for them.

When he had called the Prince to tell him the bad news the Prince had only seemed sad, and asked that Jeremiah warn all four of them of the situation if nothing else. His Prince had also then instructed him to find a way to check in on his family to make sure they are ok from the fallout from what happened to him.

It had been something that he had not thought about and felt horrible for forgetting about his younger sister. Where could he fit in visiting her though? It was going to be hard enough for him to travel most of the places he wanted to go.

With a heavy sigh he again looked at the ingredients he had available and cursed himself for living here for seven years and not learn how to cook anything traditionally Japanese. He had hoped that Miss Sayoko would have returned, he could use her amazing cooking skills if last night's dinner was anything to go by.

****G's G****

As she made her way through the city Jaina Albright took her time to bask in the pleasure of how far she had come these last six years.

When that stupid bitch of an Empress had gotten herself killed, no one was willing to take on one of the failed guards that like her that had no military experience other than guarding Marianne and were not of noble blood. So she had been shifted from one department to another never being wanted by anyone for almost a full year before her current Lord found her and gave her a purpose again. She was one of the best people now at removing those that provided trouble for the her Lord's plan.

She lifted a hand to the long scar that marred her face directly below her right eye, it had been the only time she had failed a mission. Her Lord had not blamed her, she however blamed herself. She had underestimated her opponent, and that was the only reason that bitch Selene had escaped, not that anyone other than her Lord knew that.

Casting one last look at the city's stone ceiling she pushed open the door for her meeting, and wondered where she was going next.

****G's G****

Villetta clicked out of the folder she had just finished going through and started the difficult process she had been doing for more than a few files so far today. Princess Cornelia had tasked her with continuing with the vetting process she had been doing before the Princess arrived. She had managed to finish with all the workers at the consulate a few hours earlier.

Now she had moved on to high ranking military personnel and nobility located within Area 11. As such for some cases where the individual showed signs of corruption, signs of dealing with Refrain, or any such action that is a drain on the Japanese she was carefully creating a copy of that person's files to pass on to her Lord.

They would be a great help to him in his plan to free Japan from his father. It would take time but she would make sure they got to him at the earliest possible chance. In fact she thought, she might be able to send them off soon and pass the blame for it onto Kewell in the process.

It was exhilarating, since Shinjuku she really understood what Jeremiah had been saying throughout the years about the honor and loyalty associated with being the sworn liegeman of a member of the Royal Family.

Shaking her head to clear it of such thoughts that were creeping in the more tired she got. She had work to do, her plan to blame Kewell would only work if she could get this to her lord soon.

As she opened the next folder she did not notice the flash of two red rings reflecting off her computer screen.

* * *

THIS IS MAJORLY IMPORTANT!

Ok, I have been looking into the Areas listed on the Code Geass wiki and decided that based on what you see in the Show and the mangas; A) there are disagreements between some people over some of the Areas and B) not all of them make sense. So I am going to go through and rewrite and change things up a little. If you have a good reason to disagree with any of these let me know as I might agree with you.

United States (Disputed) - This might seem like nitpicking but I am being quite specific this. Area 1 will be the land west of the Mississippi River while the area to the East is the Homeland. No-One is called 'Ones' however, and everyone from both the Homeland and Area 1 are regarded as full-blooded Britannians.

Canada and Queen Elizabeth Islands- OK. Most Britannians regard two's as full blooded Britannian citizens as well.

Central America- OK

Greenland- OK

Iceland- OK

South America- OK

Hawaii and Midway -OK

Falkland Islands- Ok (I'm marking this ok as it's staying but to be honest, the fact that this did not come with South America bothers me with how it's size and proximity to South America).

New Zealand- OK. While This area will be under Britannian Control and that is not disputed the rebels in this area will be heavily backed by Australia.

Indochina (Disputed)- No. I fundamentally disagree with this one. Not only is it highly unlikely that they would conquer this at all, more importantly they would unlikely be able to do this before Japan. So I have decided that Area 10 will be what the wiki labels as Area 15 Southern Pacific Island.

Japan- OK

Philippines- OK

Cambodia (Disputed)- Read number 10 above as Cambodia is a part of Indochina. So I am making Area 13 What is present day Chukuka and Kamchatka (which are located on the Eastern Coast of Russia for those that are unfamiliar.)

Papua New Guinea- OK. However this location will be contested with between Britannia and Australia both claiming and fighting over it.

Southern Pacific Islands- No. I already made this Area 10. So Area 15 will be Madagascar.

Korean Peninsula (Disputed)- Ok. However this will be contested with Britannia and The Chinese Federation both claiming and fighting over it.

Indonesia (Disputed)- Ok. However this will be contested with Britannia and The Chinese Federation both claiming and fighting over it.

MEF- OK


	9. Close Bonds

Ok first I can tell just from lack of comments and that the number of this stories' followers went down that last chapter was not a hit. If that is the case I'm sorry but that's how it is going to be. If it is a case of people not wanting to waste time on side characters they will never see again, I assure you that is not the case. If I spend the time to create a backstory and interesting tidbits for a character I create you can be damn sure they will appear again. Many of the introduced will play important roles either later in the fic or in the sequel.

Second I have a poll up if anyone is interested in voting in it. I was just curious as to people's thoughts.

Remember I own nothing in the Code Geass Universe except my O.C.s

Chapter 8: Close Bonds

Lelouch smiled at the old man across from him. He had not been surprised that he had no need to use his Geass on Reuben and that the head of the Ashford family was willing to work with him for this task. The man was kind hearted, and that served as just another example of what he would have done wrong last time, knowing that last time he would have started the meeting using Geass rather than even trying to to trust that he could work with him as willing allies.

He had gotten up early and, with Rolo in tow, made his way over to Reuben Ashford's office to arrange for a entrance exam for Rolo. Reuben had been so accommodating to this that Rolo was already off taking an entrance exam at this moment, with Lelouch hoping he would be finished before school actually started so he can be added to a class today. While this was a great thing, he was now sitting across from Reuben Ashford by himself and the older man was looking at him with an understanding look that just screamed that the older man knew he had not told the truth about taking Rolo in from off the street.

Worse than the older man's apparent distrust was the way which distrust bothered him. He had spent so much of his life lying to everyone around him so why, why did someone not trusting him now bother him so much. It did not take his level of intelligence to know the answer. This man had taken Nunnally and him in, protected them and kept them hidden. Setting up a place for them to live, and gave them a 'servant' to keep them safe. No, this man had done so much for them and at just a simple question had gone one step further by accepting Rolo into the school even when the older man knew that he was lying about something.

The silence as the older man waited for him to come forward and explain stretched on until he broke, "Sir. I don't know how to thank you."

He could tell that he had unbalanced the older man, and he felt like hitting something. Had he really been so ungrateful in the past that a simple thank you could confuse everyone he said it to. The older man's eyes pierced him as if they could see something that he couldn't, "Young man, you should know by now that you need not hide things from me of all people."

As he stared at the man across the desk from him he realized that he was gripping the arms of his chair so hard that if he was stronger they would have broken off. He took a calming breath to organize his thoughts as it hit him. This man, whose only connection to him was that the Ashford Family backed his mother, an act that lead to their destruction, was honestly the closest thing to a father figure he really had his entire life. Not able to meet Reuben's eyes after that thought he stated, "He... He's a kindred spirit."

The silence after that only lasted a few seconds, "I may not be a noble of standing in Pendragon anymore, and most of my contacts have long since passed on, but I know that there have no more banished royalty since..."

He was glad for the fact that Reuben trailed off there, "No I mean... He... Britannia destroyed his childhood. I can't tell you how, but he needs me. He needs a family, and I can't just leave him now."

As his eyes met Reuben's across the desk, he found he could not place the look in the old man's eyes as he spoke, "Does he know who you are Lelouch?"

"That will not be a problem Sir. He poses no threat to your family or Nunnally and myself."

The man's eyes softened just a little, even if he looked more serious now, "I'm glad that our family is safe at least. I've been here as you have grown for the last seven years Lelouch, I've watched you to make sure you were safe, and this boy, with how you are treating him, doesn't fit who you have been in that time."

He resisted the desire to look away from Reuben's eyes, as the man stated what he said like it was a fact about him. It had not been an just opinion that he was not a kind person, it was a fact, and worse yet, one he could not deny. Swallowing thickly he hesitantly explained, "Maybe it doesn't, but maybe that's not a bad thing. I just look at him and see..." He trailed off for a moment before he focused on Reuben again and said with as much conviction as he could, "He is still young, he can be happy, it's late but it's not too late. I can help him. I can make it better."

He had thought long and hard on the walk over about everything that he might have to divulge and Reuben's possible reactions to what he said but he never figured that the old man would laugh. He just didn't think that was a possible response, but never the less that's what the older man was doing. Honestly he admitted to himself it was really more of a chuckle, but he couldn't help but be annoyed that he was laughing at what was said. As he was about to say something he was completely caught off guard when Reuben stated as though he was talking to a child, "Lelouch my boy, I always knew this would happen eventually."

He froze in shock wondering how the hell the man had figured it out, as the old man continued in what he had long ago decided was the man's grandfather voice, the voice he used to chide him or Milly. It had never been used on Nunnally, but she was always an angel so that was not too surprising. "I knew one day you would set out to prove it, but I always figured you would wait till after graduation and you had found someone, but no matter."

He could feel his palms start to sweat as the man continued as if nothing was wrong, "True you have the money to finance everything, you are responsible enough for me to not have to worry about any major accidents, and if Milly's gossip is correct there will even be a mother figure around as well. However, that still does not make this any less irresponsible Lelouch."

Now he was just confused, Reuben seemed to be talking about something other than the rebellion. If that was the case though what the hell was he talking about needing a mother figure, something he would have to kill Milly for talking about. For the life of him though he couldn't interrupt the older man, "However, Lelouch as usual the Ashford family will support you in your decision. Far be it from me to question the Emperor, but if it is any encouragement, I'm sure that you will do a far better job raising Rolo then your Father did when you were a child."

He tried not to gawp at the man in front of him, he really did. All he could do was blink as the man took a look at the clock, nodded, and turned back to him launching into a discussion on parenthood advice for troublesome teenage boys. As embarrassing as it was while he listened, Lelouch couldn't tell if Reuben was talking about his own son or him as an example. For some reason though he didn't try to hide the lone tear that tracked down the side of his face as he listened to the kind old man's words.

****G's G****

Alon sat patiently as what he could only describe as his life work crumbled around him. He had never been in charge or had a great amount of influence of Mossad; he had however dedicated his life to his cause. He had worked tirelessly since he was ten years old to try and liberate the Holy City.

That Britannia had manage to conquer almost seventy percent of the MEF in two weeks was distressing enough. That however had not spelled the end for them, it was the aftermath, the discussions, the arguing. They had fallen apart.

Well not really they were still one people, but they were fracturing. There were those that wanted to ally with Britannia, those that wanted to turn to the EU, and those that thought it best to officially take the Holy City by force.

None of this was new, there had always been differing beliefs about what to do but never like this. Aryeh, their leader, had been in Baghdad meeting with a supplier from the EU when Cornelia had attacked it, and Aryeh had ended up being killed.

It had been a tragedy, and those like him that had grown up alongside Aryeh and deeply respected the leader he had grown to become had been devastated.

So devastated that they had missed how the next generation had tried to twist the events to fit their narrative and push for power. How their internal squabble was bubbling over and would lead to a group that had lasted centuries rush towards destruction.

In the end though as he stood up to go back to his quarters he knew that they had no one to blame but themselves. These children had to have learned this behavior somewhere, and it's not like Aryeh had not done similar things in his time. Aryeh had shown restraint though, he had never pushed too far for personal gain at the risk of what they stood for. These children didn't understand that and who could he blame other than the ones that had failed to teach them patience and responsibility.

****G's G****

Milly noted that her eyes had drifted over to Lelouch again today. She quickly kicked herself back into working on her paperwork because if she kept this up she would get Shirley jealous. She had been obsessing about what was going on almost as much as Shirley obsesses about Lelouch all day, but no one was telling her anything substantial about this boy that had just shown up this morning out of nowhere.

Her grandfather gave her some spiel about how taking the boy, who was called Rolo, in was Lelouch's way of proving how he was not his father. She knew however, that this was not true, and it only took a little bit of digging through some video files this morning to find out that Lelouch never admitted to anything her grandfather said during their meeting. That information left her back at square one again.

She looked over at Lelouch again, and wanted to kick herself for what she was thinking. She had never seen her friend so relaxed and happy, and she could not even tease him about having it on with his green haired girl as she wanted to. It wasn't fair for her.

Shaking her head to focus she again looked at her oldest friend and frowned, she didn't want to go there but her mind went back to the New Year's celebration the year she had turned thirteen.

*Flashback*

She smiled at the TV in front of her. Grandpa had let them stay up till midnight so they could watch the celebration in Pendragon for the New Year. A small part of her hoped that she would get to see her mom and dad on the TV at some point but she wasn't holding her breath.

Grandpa had gone out with some of his compatriots earlier to have an adult celebration but she was fine with that. She had her best friends with her, granted Nunnally had already fallen asleep but she was little. She and Lelouch were teenagers this year though so they were still up, or really Lelouch was. She was mostly asleep at this point, eyes barely open as she gazed at the TV.

She could only think of what a sight they must look like on the couch, Lelouch in the middle, Nunnally curled up almost on top of him sleeping peacefully and her with her head on Lelouch's shoulder, slowly falling asleep. She hoped Sayoko got them to bed before grandpa came back, she did not need blackmail like a picture of this getting out. As cute as Lelouch was she had spent far too much time with the stubborn boy to ever want to kiss him and if you didn't want to do that what was even the point of dating then.

She shifted a little bit as the spokesman said that there was a special surprise at midnight this year and felt Lelouch's arm wrap around her just like she had seen him do to Nunnally a few hours earlier. She felt her face heat up just a bit at the contact. It was moments like this that she really was glad Lelouch was here, she had no siblings and she had always wanted a brother or sister but...

As the countdown started she blinked and almost sat up. Walking out on stage was Emperor Charles Zi Britannia, but she stayed still as she felt Lelouch sit up and stiffen in his seat.

As the Emperor started a speech about Darwinism she felt all color leave her face as her best friend growled in a voice just barely audible, "One day Father. One day I will make you pay for your beliefs, and what they did to Nunnally."

She felt lifeless as she hear that declaration. Fear of what could happen to her friend filled her. Worry about what would happen to Nunnally if something happened to Lelouch was a close second. Mostly she felt a profound sense of loss with those words, because someday something else would come along and take possible her and Nunnally's place as the most important things to Lelouch, and that was not something she wanted to happen.

*Flashback*

As much as she didn't want to believe it, she couldn't shake the doubt that filled her when she looked at Lelouch. His happiness, the way a weight had been taken off his shoulders should be something she should celebrate, but she couldn't. She knew for a fact that he had no idea she knew he wanted to kill his father, and as time went on she watched him making sure he never did anything. Now however, now Prince Clovis was dead, a Britannian army destroyed, an old guardsman of the Vi Britannian Family saved just to make the Purists of Britannia look like fools, and two people randomly show up to live with Lelouch. She didn't want to believe it, but she couldn't help but worry that her best friend had already started leaving her. Now, with his new friends and the fight she knew in her heart he was waging, she couldn't help but feel she was going to lose someone that was more like family to her than her own parents. Lelouch had been with her for seven years now, and that was almost as long as the amount of time she had spent with her parent in her youth, with them always off courting Nobles trying to regain their title.

Looking back at her work, she promised herself she would confront Lelouch next time he missed classes at the same time Zero was seen. If it was true, she didn't know what she would do, but she wasn't going to let that boy hurt herself or Nunnally by leaving them.

****G's G****

There was a nervous air around the group as they entered the warehouse this time. She could feel it almost smothering them as they moved to the lit part of the warehouse. Yes, Zero had agreed to this meeting and knew they had plans to 'propose' to him, but Zero had also said that there was other things that they needed to discuss quickly. That had made everyone rather uneasy. So slowly Ohgi, Minami, Sugiyama, Tsukiko and her moved forward.

They were only waiting a moment before the door to the mobile home unit slid open without a word.

Next to her Tsukiko chuckled at the sight breaking much of the tension, "Well he sure goes full out on the mysterious persona doesn't he?"

Ohgi grunted, "Yeah… Everyone ready?"

She smiled tightly, "We are as ready as we will ever be."

Ohgi took the lead as they started moving towards the mobile unit. She was only slightly surprised when they entered and Zero was sitting at the far end of the table with a large stack of folders next to him.

"Good. Now that you have arrived we can begin. Am I to assume that you are Tsukiko the leader from the Ichihara group?"

Tsukiko stepped forward, "Yes. I am in charge of the resistance group in Ichihara."

Zero nodded towards the seats, "And you wish to become a part of this? Are you ready for all this will entail?"

Ohgi cut in, "Actually about that we have a proposal, it's written up like you wanted."

She could almost hear a chuckle in Zero voice, "Oh you do? Interesting. Let me hear it then."

Ohgi pulled a few sheets of paper out of his pocket before speaking. "We wrote it up so that you could read it."

There was silence for a second before Zero stretched out to grab the papers and this time she could distinctly hear a frown in his voice, "Very well."

Zero seemed to scan the papers for a moment then started speaking while reading, "Your proposal for this warehouse is good. Making this into a command center as well as using it as a storage space for our resources was my intent from the beginning."

She felt a smug rush of pride at that.

"Your proposed plan for how to welcome other groups is good, but I have a simple problem with it. Security. While everything worked out well when you contacted Tsukiko and the Ichihara group that will not always be the case. I am not saying that your plan of how to recruit people is bad, however we do need some checks in there, both for individuals that we don't know as well as a way to make sure other groups will stand with us. We don't want any groups that will cause problems, like the Yokosuka group who work as enforcers for corrupt Britannian nobles"

He fell silent as he flipped through the rest of the papers, before finally setting them down and looking at them.

"You propose to maintain independent resistance groups while forming a coalition. Before we go into that I have a question for you. What do you intend to get out of this?"

There was a moment of deafening silence as they all looked at each other, "A free Japan."

Zero nodded, "I am trying not to sound arrogant when I ask this, but why are you coming to me for freeing Japan?"

That one hurt a little bit and she could see Sugiyama and Tsukiko both go a touch red in anger, but as usual Ohgi managed to head off any outburst, "Because none of us could have ever come up with the plan you did. No one in Shinjuku really thought any of us would get out of there alive. Like it or you are by far the best hope any of us have ever seen."

Zero nodded politely, "Thank you, the praise is not however why I asked. Let me ask a different question. Minami eventually when we have an army and are actively retaking Japan what would be the most optimal place for you to be?"

Minami looked a little uncomfortable with everyone's attention on him, "I would think I would be in charge of a unit of some Knightmares. I have experience at being in command and I am a good Knightmare pilot."

Zero spoke slowly when he answered, "And that would be a terrible waste of potential, both in your placement and someone better could be put in charge of that unit of Knightmares."

Sugiyama interrupted, "Hey Minami might not be as good as say Kallen but he is still better than most people with a Knightmare."

Zero then zeroed in on Sugiyama, "And where would you be best placed Sugiyama?"

Suddenly all of his bluster drained from him as Sugiyama replied, "The same as Minami, some kind of commander of a small unit."

"Then my reply to you is the same. Ohgi would you like to take a shot?"

Sugiyama looked annoyed as Ohgi, looking quite perplexed, tried to answer, "Honestly I don't know. I know you're looking for us to realize something we are not getting but honestly I have no idea what."

Feeling confused herself she watched Zero nod, "You at least understand the question has a deeper meaning than what you see on the surface." Nodding to Tsukiko, "I admit madam I am not too knowledgeable about you or your organization, may I ask what you did before this."

"I was a stay at home mother."

Zero stared at the older woman for a moment as many emotions ran across her face before speaking, "I am sorry for your loss. I-"

"I have had four years to adjust to my loss. I am doing what my daughter died doing, I have no need for people's pity."

There was anger and hurt warring on Tsukiko's face as the two stared each other down. The tension got thicker as the question that was so important a moment ago was forgotten.

As the second dragged on she almost tried to say something before Zero spoke in a somber tone, "Do not misinterpret my words, I have no pity for someone that is fighting for the memories of those they lost. They will only ever have my respect. We have all lost someone or something to Britannia or we would not be here."

Something caught in her throat at that as the memories of nights with a brownish red haired man passed through her mind.

"I didn't mean-"

Zero waved her reply off, "I meant what I said. Those that also fight in the memory of family they lost to Britannia will only ever have my respect."

She filed that away as Zero continued, "Back to the question at hand, what do you see yourself being most effective at when we are retaking Japan?"

Her eyes snapped to Zero as his question made sense this time. She heard Tsukiko reply, "I would like to stay running my group, but I feel you won't like that answer."

Zero chuckled, "I don't know all of their skillsets but just from what I was told about your raid I don't like that answer. Inoue where do you see yourself when we are retaking Japan?"

"I see myself working for the logistics management of Japan and managing our supplies and equipment."

"Why?"

"Because that is what I was trained to do. I went to school for it, and working with numbers like that comes easy for me."

Zero nodded in her direction, "Exactly. Each person has skills or natural talents that they have worked on for all their lives. We are working to create a free country and we will need all of those skills. Minami you are a good leader and a fair Knightmare pilot, but more importantly you are an experienced ship captain. For Japan to be free we will need a functioning Navy. That Navy will need Captains to run it's ships, you might not have experience on a naval ship but your experience as a Captain will be needed. Sugiyama you have experience as a police officer, you have had training in many different fields, and while I wouldn't ask you to go work for a police force there might come a time when we have high profile people on our side that are in need of body guards. You have more experience than most as to what to look for when looking for something out of place. That even might include guarding people within the Britannian government something that you would not be noticed doing.."

Before Zero could continue Sugiyama cut in, "How would that work? I didn't think that there was anyone Japanese working for the Britannians at any important level."

Zero swept his gaze across all of them before asking, "To answer that I have another question. What does it mean to be Japanese?"

"Huh?"

Completely confused she was the first to find her voice, "You're born Japanese."

"How so? Is a child Japanese if both thier parents are? What if they were born after those parents fled to China and those parents taught them nothing about Japan? What about the twenty four children born in St. Mary today, a hospital in Tokyo only for the Britannian nobility? What of children like Miss Kouzuki?"

"Our culture is what makes us Japanese."

Her eyes flicked to Ohgi and she could hear the smile in Zero's voice as he spoke, "That would make being Japanese a choice, would it not?"

Fists slammed on the table as Sugiyama jumped to his feet, "No that's bullshit; there is no choice involved."

"Have you forgotten my discussion with the young Miss Kouzuki at our last meeting?"

Tsukiko asked, "Are you saying that there are Britannians that sympathise with the Japanese? Even some within the government? You would have to admit that sounds a bit far fetched."

"I can assure you that there are Britannians that believe all people are equal. It is for that reason I have these here."

Zero started passing out the folders next to him, "There is a lot in these but there is one item we have to focus on first. Princess Cornelia has arrived and she is much more impatient than her brother was. While he might have been willing to sit around knowing the base for the Blood of the Samurai's exact location, Cornelia will not. She is in fact already in the early planning stages of an attack on their base to be executed this Friday. She intends to completely wipe them off the map and to be completely honest with you, with the equipment we have now, while we were able to defeat Clovis, we do not have the resources or men we would need to hand Cornelia a defeat of the same kind."

The first set of files showed a detailed map of a bunch of tunnels she assumed were the base and some of the nearby city. There was also list of weapons, people and defence positions and equipment attached to the map.

"Do they know about this?"

Zero nodded to Ohgi, "Yes. I sent a message detailing that their location had been located as well as some supplies after the fight in Shinjuku. To my knowledge they have done nothing yet."

Tsukiko slammed her papers down, "Ok but what's the point in giving us this? You yourself just said that we can not win against Cornelia and her forces."

"No I said we can not defeat Cornelia. We can however, if we move quickly and plan this out, can make sure she does not win either."

Sugiyama scratched his head, "How do we make sure she does not win if we can't win?"

"She wants to destroy the Blood of the Samurai group, if we stop that from happening who wins? It might not be us but she will not either, a draw with Cornelia would be detrimental both to Britannian pride and their troops morale. We will make sure that the Blood of the Samurai group escapes and, if we can get things ready before Cornelia attacks, it will not even take more than half of our group to achieve our objectives."

"Wouldn't having everyone there be more helpful?"

Facing Minami Zero shook his head, "While numbers might seem advantageous, just using things like our humvees or the APC would actually cause more harm than good. We are not there to fight Cornelia's forces unless we have too, this is a mission based off speed. We are to get in and get out as swiftly as possible."

Sugiyama sarcastically retorted, "And what? Have them chase us all the way back to Tokyo? How would that work?"

A quick nod from Zero, "No. To understand the plan you have to understand the origins of the base currently being used by the Blood of the Samurai. A little over one hundred years ago it was built as a mine, but not much in anything valuable was found to dig up and as such it was quickly closed and most of it was filled in. However around forty years ago the ministry of defense acquired it and started reworking it to work as a military supply station. During the invasion it was cleared out by the Britannians, but after a few months they seem to have just forgotten about it. Eventually the Blood of the Samurai moved in and with Kyoto's help set up their base. Now look at the next two pages."

Pulling the two pages out she just stared. One was a jumble of lines she had no idea how to understand and the other was a layout of the city with what she assumed was the old subway system drawn out.

"You mean that those old subway tunnels link with the old mine?"

Zero shook his head, "Sadly no. There is about six to eight feet of rock separating them we need to get through. If we send a representative to talk to them and explain the plan we could have them all funnel out through there fighting a retreating battle, while leaving traps for Cornelia as they escape, eventually bring that entire tunnel down behind us, possibly crushing some of Cornelia's forces and escaping through the old subway system."

She had to ask, "But why not just get them to escape before Cornelia even gets there?"

She was surprised when it was Sugiyama who answered first, "It would tip our hand and let the Britannians know they have to really start looking for a spy. If this is done correctly we could make it look like an elaborate retreat." When everyone stared at him he continued, "I was involved in more than one operation that had undercover policemen involved. You could never let anything go."

"Sugiyama is correct. However I would like you to flip to the last part of the folders." As they all did so Zero continued to explain, "This might be familiar to you. This building used to be an abandoned warehouse in the Saitama Ghetto. What you might not be aware of is that it was legally purchased by a Baron Edwards around three months ago. He erected a large fence around the property and has let no one on since he bought it. The story is he does not want an elevens to steal any of his property. The reality of the situation is that he is running an arms smuggling ring that sells weapons to rebel groups in The Chinese Federation. With the fact this destabilizes their enemy Britannia is willing to turn a blind eye to the illegality of his actions."

Zero just pointed at the paper, "However he has gotten complacent; his security consists of only three guards and surveillance cameras. With a warehouse of guns, ammo, explosives, and other supplies, I think this would be a very good target for the other half of our people so you not agree?"

****G's G****

Tossing one more suitcase on her bed to pack Euphie sent an amused look at her younger half sister that had wanted to come and help her. Mira Ja Britannia might only be six but she had insisted on coming over to spend time with her until she left for Area 11.

She still did not know how she felt about that. She always wanted to be able to help people, and she would be able to do so as sub viceroy, but this was not how she wanted it to happen. She had never wanted another of her siblings to die again.

"Are you ok Euphie?"

Plastering a smile on her face she ruffled Mira's white hair, "Of course sweetie."

Mira did not look convinced however, "Oh. Mother said you would be frightened of going to Area 11. She was talking about how you lost people there before brother Clovis. I can't remember them though."

She stumbled back against her bed as her mouth went dry. No longer was it Mira standing in front of her expectantly, she seemed to blur, and her blue eyes became a striking violet and Mira's snow white hair was now a flowing brown curls…

Blinking away the image and the tears she smiled as best she could, "It was a long time ago before it had become Area 11."

Mira's eyes went big in the cute way little children do, "Wow, that's before I was even born."

"Yeah it was…" And just like that her mind was full of memories, hearing about what happened to Empress Marianne, not being allowed to go see Nunnally, Cornelia telling her Lelouch didn't want to see anyone, pouting because she wanted to visit Japan, and the tears when she heard the news.

She fell back onto her bed when Mira grabbed ahold of her lower half in a hug as tight as the little girl could, "Please don't be sad Sister Euphie. I didn't mean to make you cry. Please don't be mad at me."

She wrapped her arms around the younger girl pulling her up onto her lap, while wiping away any tears, "Oh sweetie I would never be mad at you. It's just difficult. The people that died in Area 11 were Nunnally and Lelouch Vi Britannia, and they were my best of friends. Nunnally would have loved you. Why I can remember…"

****G's G****

Suzaku looked down at the bag in front of him, still unsure about this present from Cècile. She had said it was making up for how Lloyd had treated him when they told him he was going to school. Getting accepted into a prominent school, even if he could not go every day because of work, was an amazing present though he didn't need this extra one. He had not had official classes since before the invasion, he had missed them, even if the teachers would never measure up to his old Masters.

Miss Cècile had even gone the extra mile and promised to make him his own bento for Monday, though he was unsure about it now. As soon as she had left after telling him that Lloyd had come over to him. The eccentric man had handed him ten dollars and said to buy lunch himself, as he was not going to have his devicer die after putting that much work into fixing his deficiencies. He had originally thought it was a joke but the man seemed so serious...

Opening the bag his new uniform for Ashford Academy was in he froze, the bag tumbling out of his hands and the uniform spilling out onto the floor. He had had no idea how to find Lelouch again, but this was the uniform that had been in Lelouch's backpack. He would be seeing his friend again. He did not even try to hide the smile that started forming on his face as tears formed in his eyes.

WIth his father dead, his mother having disowned him, Kaguya not talking to him, and Tohdoh Sensei a wanted criminal it was such a relief that Lelouch and Nunnally were not dead like he had mourned for years…

****G's G****

Rolo was overjoyed with the time he spent at Ashford Academy, although he had only been around a few days, one school week to be precise. Well not a full week, and most of it was spent figuring out what classes he should be in. The important thing was he was back with big brother and even better big brother was spending time with him everyday. Granted he felt a little bit of envy that big brother never tucked him in like big brother did with Nunnally, but C.C. had assured him it was because Nunnally was a girl. She had gone on to explain how girls were precious, and deserved to be treasured.

That discussions had been one on the multiple times he had spend time alone talking with C.C., which mostly happened when big brother was out doing things. However, as nice as she was to him, C.C. was a little weird. He had seen her holding conversations with herself before he had died last time, but even though he had been keeping his eyes on her for anything suspicious or that would annoy big brother; she had not done anything too weird so far. In fact, at times she was so nice, she was treating him almost as he imagined a mother would. Secretly he truly enjoyed those moments, but he knew C.C. could never learn that, not just because he was convinced there would be consequences if she knew he enjoyed the feeling, but also because he needed to keep an eye on her.

However, there were other times with C.C. when she would him tease him about things he really didn't get, it was… well it was odd is what it was. Like the other day he had asked her why she still sometimes wore the prisoner outfit she was wearing when big brother found her. She had looked down at it, then up at him with a creepy smile, and winked before saying, "That's a question that you will have to ask your big brother." He still had not asked big brother yet but every time he thought he should ask big brother he would choke on his words, like it was not a question he should be asking.

At this very moment though his brother was at a student council meeting, and C.C. said she had business to attend to, so he was alone. Neither of these things was he really fond of. C.C. also being alone was also something that really bothered him, although he did not know why, but if he pushed he was afraid that big brother would get mad at him. The student council, especially that orange haired girl that big brother liked, was a sore spot for him.

Pushing his agitation aside as he was going through the cabinet he froze as he heard a voice from the table. He had no idea how he could have missed her but the voice of the person he had been avoiding for the last few days spoke from behind him, "Lady C.C. is that you? I missed you at lunch today." Rolo silently cursed himself at being so absent-minded that someone could sneak up on him. Slowly he turned around to see Nunnally sitting in her wheelchair silhouetted by the window. He took a minute to look at big brother's crippled sister before he spoke, "I am sorry Nunnally Lamperouge, but I could go find C.C. if you would like me too." Hoping in his desperation that she said yes so he could leave the room and leave the annoying girl now inhabiting it behind.

His hopes deflated like punctured balloons when her face lit up and a smile formed on her face. She started to talk and he noted it quickly became her babbling "Please stay! I've never really gotten to talk to you, and your always around. I have not even been formally introduced. I have a lot of questions for you."

Slowly turning towards the small table to take a seat, he went to clear off the pile of clutter that littered the tabletop. That was until Nunnally moved up across from him and started frantically grabbing at everything as she apologized, "I'm sorry that everything is a mess. Lady Sayoko is still trying to teach me origami, and I never cleaned up from lunch." As she fumbled with her second folded piece of paper blushing brightly, he decided to intervene. As she was reaching for another of the paper cranes she had tried to make correctly he mumbled an, "ok" after realizing she could not see him nod in response to her apology. Reaching over to grab a few of the remaining cranes he froze when with near perfect precision Nunnally grabbed at the crane enclosing his hand in her own. Blushing beet red Nunnally started speaking in a swift form of verbal vomit, "Brother Lelouch won't tell me a lot about you. He only said you are here because you need a place to stay, and that we would be looking after you. Sort of like how the Ashford family looked after us. "

Rolo was concerned when her voice stayed happy the entire time she talked, even with how worried she looked. Taking time to remember the cover story he and Lelouch had made, "I was an orphan, and well, I lived anyway I could. Lelouch found me and brought me here saying that no one should ever be alone, and that he would make sure I never was again." It was not a lie just not really the truth, but more importantly to him every time big brother said it Rolo got a warm feeling in his chest. Looking at Nunnally he saw a tear trailing down from her eyes, although he could not understand what he had said to upset her.

Getting up to leave because of how weird the room felt, he heard Nunnally ask in a small voice, "Can you come here please?"

Rather nervous from knowing how much effort big brother put towards making this frail little slip of a girl happy, he desperately hoped she did not hate him and want him to leave for making her cry. Slowly, almost against his will, he stood up and walked around the table over to her, dreading what she would say. As he approached he saw her stiffen then reach out and pull him towards her, her arms wrapping around him as she whispered in little more than a sob, "I know my brother loves me but it's been so long since he really did something nice for someone because he could. Thank you. Thank you so much for helping him."

Rolo didn't know what to say but felt that the cover story was not such a good thing anymore, so he wrapped his arms around her in what he thought was a really awkward hug. He quickly sprang back away from the girl, almost dragging her with him, when C.C.'s voice spoke from the doorway, "I'm here Nunnally for tea since I missed lunch, but if you want I can come back later so you two can have time alone…" Rolo saw that smile she always had on when she was teasing him. Bolting from the room completely red faced he heard C.C. from somewhere over his shoulder yell after him, "Don't worry Rolo, you dog, I won't tell Lelouch."

Frantically he ran for the door back to the main clubhouse. He had to find big brother and tell him that C.C. was going to tell him lies. He didn't want big brother to think he wanted anything to do with that annoying little cripple.

****G'S G****

Shirley had been feeling uneasy for the last few days. It was not because of the new boy Rolo that Lulu seemed to have taken in as some kind of son/brother hybrid. It was Milly, and the fact that Milly was constantly staring at Lulu all this week. She had no idea how to deal with it if Milly was interested in Lulu, as there was just no way she could compete…

"Hey Milly, about this work here. Why am I looking up what we would need to make the world's largest pizza?"

Everyone looked at Lulu except for Kallen. However Kallen was new so it's not like Kallen would understand that this was the first time in her memory Lulu had ever asked Milly for clarification on anything.

Milly meanwhile just smiled brightly, "I have not really planned any major festival for everyone to enjoy in a while. And since it's my last year I decided to do something to get into the record books. That way MY student council can be remembered forever."

Lulu nodded his head, "So you decided to break the world record for largest pizza ever made, interesting choice. But what do you plan to do for the rest of the festival?"

Suddenly Milly was looking at Lulu with an intensity that made her feel uncomfortable, "It would be one of our class and club run festivals."

Lulu just went back to his paperwork, "Pity..."

She knew that something like that would only last a second at most with Milly and she knew that Lulu knew that as well, so she was not surprised that Lulu smiled when Milly snapped, "And what is that suppose to mean?"

"I just thought that you would have come up with a theme for the festival, that's all. I guess without your normal touch it just seems a little bland."

Milly's face went red, "Now see here Vice President. You are my primary minion, you're supposed to have my back. It's not my fault I could not come up with a theme that went with pizza."

Lulu just smiled, "The student council would be making the pizza right?"

When Milly nodded slowly he continued, "Well then how about we have everyone pick a country or region and run a booth based on that. We could do Italy because we are making the pizza and we could have a small booth."

Rivalz hesitantly spoke into the silence that followed that idea, "I don't know man that seems like it could get a few people mad."

Lulu waved that aside, "I doubt that Milly would care about upsetting people all that much. At least not the Milly I have known all these years."

She decided to put in her thought, "I think it's a great Idea Lulu. It would be really cool if people ran booths with food from all over the world for snacks."

Lulu flashed her a brilliant smile and she could feel her face heating up as he spoke, "Agreed and we could make it even more interesting by having people take part in multiple booths. A school run Britannia exhibit, each club can pick the foreign country or region they want, and each year could run a booth for an Area."

Kallen meekly spoke up, "Won't that be kind of dangerous though. What if some eleven don't like it if one of the classes makes fun of them at their booth."

Nina yelped and for the first time since the idea was mentioned she realized that it might really bother her friend. However before Lulu could answer Milly cut in, "I like it but for an idea like that I would have to let gramps know first."

Lulu nodded and turned to Kallen, "As for your worry I like to think we can trust that the President will not allow a class that would not show the proper consideration and respect to what Area they choose to do the booth for that Area. I mean chaos may be Milly's favorite-"

Lulu was cut off as the door to the meeting room slammed open to reveal Rolo. Lulu was already halfway to the boy as the boy started babbling something incoherent.

Lulu just called over his shoulder as he ushered the rambling boy out of the room, "I'll be back in a moment Prez."

Her eyes went back to the prez who was staring at the door with an odd expression on her face.

Rivalz broke first, "It sure is weird to see Lelouch acting like an older brother to anyone other than Nunnally."

Absently Milly replied, "Yeah. Yeah it is."

Nina spoke up for the first time, "Milly why do you keep staring at Lelouch like that?"

It felt like a weight was being lifted off of her as someone else asked the question while at the same time she felt like she was drowning from her worry. Milly however shrugged, "I am curious. He has been acting rather odd lately and I want to know why. He has never changed like this in all the years I have known him and I want to know why."

The words burst from her mouth before she could stop them, "So you don't like Lelouch like that?"

Milly started cackling in laughter as her own face turned the same color red as blood, "God no. He is far too much a pretty boy with his silent mysterious facade."

Rivalz butted in, "Yeah and it's not like any of the Prez's flirting would get to Lelouch. He might be my friend but it would all go well over his head. The dude is clueless."

Milly's face took on a lecherous grin, "Which head Rivalz, the big one or the one with the brain? Cause I'm fairly certain I have gotten reactions from both with my friendly teasing."

She vaguely heard Kallen say something at that, but she couldn't hear her as her head felt fuzzy… her vision seemed to be going black and was she falling….

****G'S G****

Sayoko stopped dead as she looked at the door to the kitchen where she knew C.C. and mistress Nunnally were located. She frowned at the sound she had just heard from within, and hoped that nothing would spread to quickly. Looking down at the time she nodded to herself that she would have time today. Putting aside what she had been doing she set out to get something for C.C.'s cold as there was no reason to let whatever malady caused that sneeze spread to master Lelouch and mistress Nunnally.


	10. Planning Problems and Gossip

I know this chapter might not have the action you all want yet but I promise that everyone that wants action will be getting more than they bargained for next chapter (Chapter 10: I have not yet begun to Fight).

Well on with the show. Remember, I own nothing within the Code Geass Universe. Except my OCs

Chapter 9: Planning Problems and Gossiping

Tohdoh lowered his cup of tea back onto the table before speaking to his Holy Swords, "You are all aware of the message that was left to me when this Zero sent the JLF supplies. I have spent the days since meditating on who it could be. However, now with this Zero has revealed himself I would like your opinions."

Asahina spoke up first, "Tohdoh Sensei, do you mean who do we think this Zero could be or what are our thoughts on this Zero?"

"Your thoughts on this Zero, Asahina, although if you have insight into who this Zero might be please share. I would like any insight that any of you might have."

"I don't like him. He is wasting talent that the JLF could make better use of."

Looking at Chiba at her declaration he was not surprised that it was Urabe who responded to her remark, but was a little surprised at how much thought the younger man had clearly put into his opinions of this Zero, "How so? I would say he is making better use of what he has then what we make with what we do. He has done more in the last week than we have in the last year. If anything I would say he is more skilled than a majority of our own officers."

While many would find that comment offensive he personally had to agree with Urabe's opinion.

"His apparent talents aside I think it would be too early to either dismiss him or offer him a place with the JLF."

Inclining his head to Asahina, "Why do you think that?"

"There is just too much we do not know about him. We don't know how much of the attack in Ichihara was his doing. We don't know why that Purist in charge of the parade did what he wanted. We don't know who he is. Lastly he wears that mask. It makes me uneasy about trusting him as it's not needed; the girl with him did not wear a mask and no one could identify her."

"Yeah but it drew attention and everyone focused on him because of the mask. Besides you have no idea why he wore it. You're just annoyed because you don't know his identity and not knowing every little detail about something or someone bothers you."

"And you act like a child willing to follow someone that has done nothing but a bit of showmanship Urabe."

Deciding to cut off Chiba with a glare he nodded to Senba, "And what are your thoughts old friend?"

Senba glanced thoughtfully around the room before he finally spoke, "The showmanship he displayed was on par with some of the best theatre actors I have ever seen. It also was extremely unneeded to free the prisoner the way he did just like Asahina stated. However, I then find my old mind wandering. Long before the invasion I had retired from active duty to work on the bureaucratic aspect of the Army and that left me working with the political aspects of the military. Looking at the consequences of this I can't help but feel all that showmanship was done to completely destroy the Purist's reputation with the people. There used to be four pillars of sorts that controlled Japan for the Britannians; the military, the Bureaucracy, the Nobles and, because of how much Prince Clovis trusted them, the Purists. Now the Purists are gone and Princess Cornelia is running both the Bureaucratic side of the Britannian occupiers as well as its military unlike her brother before her. With the rumors we have heard that Cornelia has ordered a cleanup within the Nobility for corruption it looks like she is consolidating all the power for herself, although our reports on her do not show that this is not a normal action she performs."

Asahina frowned at that, "So he may have accidently put all of Britannia's power in Japan under one person? That does not sound like a good thing."

"No, not all of the power nor is it not a good thing. The Nobles of Britannia are nothing like the word their position comes from. They will not give up what power they have even for a princess and will work to undermine her at every turn. Is consolidating all her power being a bad thing? All of that power was already at her beck and call if she so requested it. One of the biggest reasons nothing we did ever hurt the Image of Britannia as the unbeatable conquerors with Clovis was that he was not directly involved in any military conflict until that last battle. So there was always someone else lower down the chain of command who would take the blame. Now however with Cornelia directly assuming command of the entire Area herself if anything goes wrong the nobles will make sure all the blame is laid at her feet."

Nodding his head at that thought he was glad for Senba's guidance once again. He was not so prideful to think that he knew everything and more often than not Senba had advice he would never have thought of.

****G's G****

Jeremiah glanced once again at the young Japanese lady starting the preparation of making dinner, "Are you sure that you are not in need of any assistance?"

Not even turning away from the two empty pans she was filling and the pot of rice she had boiling on the stove she waved her hand to shoo him towards the bathroom. It had become a routine since he had gotten here at the beginning of the week. After trying to plan for his future tasks all day Miss Sayoko would show up and make dinner while he showered and freshened up before he would discuss things with her. They would discuss what information he had found and what he had been doing that day, and she would tell him things about raising the Prince and Princess. It was nice to hear about how they had grown, and while it did little to help his jealousy it did help him form a bond with Miss Sayoko.

Making his way into the washroom he let his mind wander.

While he wished he could be of more help to his Lord, such as his desire to help him with his plans with the BOTS tomorrow, he could understand the Prince's decision of not having him help. Still he had his own task to do and despite it's difficulty he was making progress.

He was in the process of anonymously making contact with certain people. His first two choices had been Denise and Nelson and there had been nothing in response from either of them so far. He had sent them everything he had found out about the other guards, that he was still alive and that he wanted to arrange a meeting with them face to face. He knew the messages had been read and the attachments had been opened; past that he had no idea what they were doing or how they would respond.

Davidson and Gibbs however were a different kind of matter altogether. Both were far too deeply involved with the Britannia hierarchy and unlike Nelson the two had a clean record, whereas Nelson had almost as many complaints on his file as he did accomplishments. He felt the best way to approach those two was through either Nelson or Denise. When he had run the idea by Miss Sayoko yesterday at dinner she had said it seemed like a good plan. Something about there being a time to be seen and a time to let others be seen.

This morning he had contacted one more person, his sister Lillliana. Using the old code they had used as children when they played on the family estate he had told her he was fine and had things he had to do and that she was not to tell a soul he had contacted her. She had not been pleased by that but seemed willing to do as he asked for now. Though that conversation had led to one that he will have to have with Sayoko tonight.

Getting out of the shower he grabbed one of the amazingly soft and fluffy white towels and started to dry off. With years of practice he swiftly shaved the pesky stubble that had formed during the day before getting dressed.

The first thing that he noticed when he exited the washroom was not the food but that Miss Sayoko had gotten changed when he was gone and now stood in a silky dark green outfit, called kaminos or something, he couldn't remember the name. While he knew what they were he had never actually seen someone wearing one before and on Miss Sayoko it looked quite beautiful. However that thought was quickly followed by the fact that she was just finishing taking off the stove the things she had been cooking, and she had said before she does not like to leave food being cooked unattended.

Bowing his head towards her, "I apologize. I should have knocked."

She had an odd expression on her face as she laughed when he looked back up, "There is no need to worry. Sit. The food is ready."

Assuming that meant she had left the food at the stove for a moment he focused on diner. He still found it odd sitting at a table for dinner that low to the ground and without chairs, but it was not his place to question it. Most importantly he had a question, "Has the Prince finished his preparation for tomorrow?"

She looked bemused at the question, "Mostly. I do not know every detail of how he plans to distract Cornelia when he contacts her."

Nodding, "These Japanese people he has though, they can do this, right?"

She shot him a look, "They took on your purist base without any trouble."

Acknowledging her point, "Very true. Anything else about the Prince and Princess?"

Looking thoughtful, "Nothing new… Actually yesterday something did happen. C.C. was doing something for Lelouch when she would normally have lunch with Nunnally so instead they were to have afternoon tea together. C.C. was late and instead Nunnally ended up talking to young Rolo for a time. I don't know what was discussed, Rolo is far to skittish for me to approach and Nunnally was too embarrassed. However, C.C. informed me that when she arrived Nunnally had pulled Rolo into a fierce hug."

"He did what?!"

He had meet C.C. when she helped save him but he been shocked when Miss Sayoko had revealed to him that she and the Prince shared a bed. As for the boy called Rolo, Miss Sayoko had explained how he had come to be involved with the Prince's family just recently and how the Prince was taking care of him like a brother. That, however, gave the boy no reason to think he could get his filthy hands on the Princess.

His anger at this _boy_ however disappeared when Miss Sayoko started chuckling, "It was Nunnally that hugged him. Not that it matters, I understand that he ran straight to Lelouch and they had a long discussion."

Well that was good at least, the Prince would never let some _boy_ touch his sister. She continued, "And what of you? Has anyone responded yet?"

He shook his head, "No they have not. However, I did contact someone else today. My sister might not be very important in Britannia but she will keep my existence a secret and I knew she could pass along any information about the search for me"

Miss Sayoko nodded at that so he continued, "That however lead me to a problem. We assumed that once I left Japan I would be free to act more openly in my travels as I would not be as well known outside the country, and I can now confirm that I will be able to. Lilliana has informed me that my Aunt and Uncle have had my accounts frozen and are actively pushing for me to legally be declared dead. She believes that they are hoping that if I am declared dead my Title of Margrave will pass to either them or my cousin. This will leave me without anything other than what you got from my house..."

"The lack of funds should not be a problem, Lelouch has more than enough money to fund your trip. I would believe that Lelouch would be more concerned that something could happen to your sister."

As relieved as he was to hear that he had to ask, "Are you sure? This is not going to be cheap no matter how cheap I'll try to be."

He found himself momentarily stunned by the woman across from him when she let out a restrained giggle before responding, "I have access to the account Lelouch created for food and other things needed for the house, it contains over a half a million Britannian pounds. He has three other account all of which he filled with his gambling winnings from those chess matches he plays."

He nodded slowly, he had not been too pleased that the Prince was gambling when Sayoko had told him, but it clearly looked like he had done well for himself.

Miss Sayoko stood up and picked up her empty dishes, "I must retire for the evening. Tomorrow will be a very busy day."

Absently watching her sway over to the sink he couldn't help but feel she was still much more helpful to the Prince and Princess then he was. He might get along with her well but his jealousy was right there beneath the surface, and why would it not be, with her being basically perfect and she was an amazing cook too.

He felt a slight flush cross his cheeks and looked down at his food as she bent over and picked up something next to the sink. When he saw her walking past him he knew it was safe to look again and looked at her saying, "Sleep well."

Only near the end the words trailed off a little and his cheeks did heat up. There in her hands were the clothes she had been wearing when she had arrived.

****G's G****

Ohgi couldn't help but sigh at what had just been explained to him, "Ok Yoshida, please explain this to me again. Who is the guy you have outside?"

"He says his name is Koushiro and that he is a part of the Blood of the Samurai group. We found him sneaking around Shinjuku and when he mentioned he was looking for Zero we offered to help."

Tsukiko angrily cut in, "So you just let some random person you can't identify into what is suppose to be our base of operations? What if he's a spy?"

Yoshida shot her a glare, "Hey we checked him. I might not be in charge like you three but I'm not an idiot. Granted having Tamaki do it might not have been my best idea, but his enthusiasm made up for any lack of traditional skills as he made it rather clear that no bug or tracking device was found before we brought him here."

Inoue cut in, "Yoshida, what she meant was why did you bring him here? It would have been simple to contact us, which would have allowed us to meet you to clarify things and then contact Zero and have him talk to him in Shinjuku; it's not like Zero doesn't know where to find us."

Yoshida shot her an annoyed look, "Look I asked around. We have people that have worked with the Blood of the Samurai before and they said they recognize him. Besides if his story is true then you really need to talk to him, it changes everything for tomorrow's plans."

A sense of unease settled in his gut at that, "What do you mean?"

Yoshida shifted his feet, "Honestly he should be the one explaining it. I only got the basics, as that was all I needed to know to know it was bad. It seems like the Blood of the Samurai has fractured into smaller groups because of Zero's warning."

That would be problematic. Inoue asked the most important question first, "How many groups?"

Yoshida looked uncomfortable now, "At least two, look I'll be honest that's all I know. You really should be asking him these questions not me. I've already told you all I know."

Taking pity on Yoshida he motioned for the door, "Go get him then, if this is going to cause problems we are going to need to come up with something quick."

As Yoshida exited the mobile home unit he turned to Inoue, "Go contact Zero, this is something we will need him here for. The plan was based on our groups working together. If they don't want our help, we need to contact Minami and Sugiyama."

Inoue nodded and moved towards the stairs as a shorter young man with hair the color of rust entered the mobile home unit. His eyes flickered towards the large screen even though it was off and seemed to study it for a moment, "I wish we could have tech like this. I wish Kyoto would give us stuff like this." He then focused on them, "Sorry, I got distracted. Mister Yoshida said you already had a plan and had questions because we messed it up."

He noted the young man did not look repentant at that statement at all and was about to ask why they had split when Tsukiko interrupted, "How old are you? You look like you're just a kid."

Koushiro surprisingly did not seem all that annoyed by the question and he couldn't help but feel the kid got it a lot, "Twenty. I find it more then old enough to fight for my freedom. It certainly is older than when it was taken from me."

Gently grabbing Tsukiko's shoulder to stop her from saying anything, "The important question is why did your group split?"

Koushiro looked rather uncomfortable at that question, "Well for that to be fully explained you would have to understand how the politics of our group works, and that would take a long time to explain. The short answer is that the council makes the decisions and they decided to fight to the death against Cornelia, a decision some of our younger members disagree with. There is no reason to throw away our lives for no reason. Dying like that would accomplish nothing."

He had to agree it was a good argument, "Do you think us approaching this council would help?"

He snorted, "Not likely. They all but stated that they believe Zero just wants to take control of the Blood of the Samurai from them."

He turned to Tsukiko, "Well that completely changes that part of the plan."

Turning back to the young man, "Who is incharge of your splinter group? How big is it? How well armed are you?"

"Taichi Yagami is in charge, he used to be a team leader before the council got leery of how well liked he was getting and they moved him to the council. I think about fifty people walked out, we didn't really get a head count before I was heading to Shinjuku. And honestly we're not well supplied. We only really have what we could grab on the way out."

Rubbing his face he was glad when Inoue walked down the stairs, "He is on the way. Zero said to get any information that might be useful before he gets here."

Nodding slowly he looked back at the young man who looked excited, "Ok then let's start at the beginning. Can you get in contact with this Taichi person? This could go a lot easier if we can meet up and work together."

****G's G****

It was a completely new feeling for him, and Taichi found it disturbing to be approaching a group of people he did not know with only four people with him. He did not want to show up with a large group despite Koushiro's assurance that it was all ok. Not only did he not want to approach this in what could be seen as an aggressive manner but he also did not want to possibly endanger any more of his people than the barest minimum possible. He hoped these people could help but he was not going to risk his people on that hope.

One man in particular seemed to making his way towards them. As the blue hair man got closer it was clear he was inspecting them, and when the man's eyes landed on him the man spoke, "I take it you are Taichi Yagami? You're younger then I expected."

He stopped instantly at that, "Will that be a problem?"

The guy shrugged, "Be a bit hypocritical of me to criticize too much, I was around twenty two and a brand new police officer when I ended up on an assignment that almost got me killed. You don't look much younger than I was then. Don't expect everyone to feel that way though, not everyone will be thrilled with the idea of kids fighting."

He could understand that, there was a reason he had joined up with the Blood of the Samurai all those years ago, "I am aware, most of us are around my age or younger though."

The man nodded slowly, "How young are we talking here?"

He shrugged, "Never asked for the most part but we have one or two that I would guess are around fifteen. Everyone else falls between that and twenty two."

The man frowned, "That's not happening. I'm not bringing kids that young into something they have a good chance of getting shot doing. I got things that need to be done the younger ones can do but they won't be going into the tunnels when Cornelia men are present. There's no reason kids should be fighting when they do not need to be."

He grabbed Daisuke's shoulder before the younger boy could say something stupid, "So you don't want the younger people fighting, but you are saying they can help in other ways? Like what?"

The man chuckled, "Kid do you know what we are going to be doing here?"

Frowning, "No, Koushiro's explanation was rather short. I was just told to meet you."

"Well you might want to bring in the rest of your group quick as there is less than twenty four hours until Cornelia gets here and we have a lot to do in that time. We have about eight feet of concrete and rock to break through and then we have to rig the entire tunnel to blow. Plus we need to make sure that the Britannians follow some of your age appropriate people down that tunnel so they don't question anything when it blows up on them. On top of that there are a few other things I thought up since I found out about this divide within your group."

He raised an eyebrow, "Oh?"

The man nodded, "Yeah. Originally the plan was to get a lot of the materials you guys had out. Now though that will be a more challenging problem which some of your people will need to deal with. Once we get through the wall I want them to go up into the base and take anything that those guys up there aren't using. Also, you see anyone that can be convinced to leave convince them, save every single person you can. Think you have people that could do that?"

Taichi nodded slowly, "Yeah. Yeah I do."

The man smiled, "Good. I'll tell them who they need to find as well, we have someone in there that is probably doing the exact same thing." The man turned to walk away then looked back, "Names Sugiyama by the way."

He looked at those with him and signalled Daisuke and the others to go get the rest before following after Sugiyama, "Quick question. How are you going to rig the tunnel to explode? I have a little experience bringing things down with explosives from when I was a field leader."

Sugiyama shot him a side glance, "We don't have much in all honesty. We have more triggers and such to make it explode than explosives themselves sadly."

"Well if we get through the wall I can fix that. I know where the explosives are kept, so if you have primers and such we could make this work."

Sugiyama stopped and looked at him, "You said you have experience. We got something from our raid on the Purist base in Ichihara I have never seen before. It's a primer rigged into a pressure plate. We have two and I brought them with us but I have no idea what they could be used for."

Trying to think of something to prove he was worth being taken seriously he asked, "How much weight sets them off?"

"It's programmable, but it can take up to a few tons. At that point people can run across without fear of dying. We think they are for Knightmares but, well, we have never seen explosives like this before."

"Do they blow up only when the weight is applied or can you make them go off when the weight is removed instead?"

Sugiyama blinked, "Actually I have no idea, we have a guy here that has computer experience. He might have a way to find out."

He only hoped that that could work while a plan began to form in his mind. Yeah it was evil but it also would be completely unexpected by the Britannians especially if... "Last question. This tunnel you want to dig through to, is there anything underneath it?"

Sugiyama shrugged, "More tunnels I'd guess. Why?"

Smirking he explained, "Because if we can set everything up quickly we can have the pressure plate set into the tunnel floor packed with explosives. When the Britannians first attack we can use a hand based primer to bring the ceiling down on top of any of them in the tunnel and leave. After the fighting is done, when the Britannians start digging through the tunnel to follow, they will release the weight on the pressure plates, making them explode."

Sugiyama looked shocked, "And if there is not much beneath it we could bring them all down again when the floor is blown out from under them. I'll have someone find out the answer to those questions right away."

Sugiyama slapped him on the shoulder, "Welcome to the team kid. Now let's get to work."

****G's G****

Minami looked at everyone milling around and tried to get a grip on what had just happened inside the Council's room. It had been surreal to come here trying to save people from a pointless death to only be told a quarter of the group had already fled like cowards to Zero and that those that stayed would be fighting to the death and would no more bow to Zero then they would the Britannians. When he had tried to speak the man watching him had driven him to the ground with a rifle butt. Not allowed to say anything he had to listen as he was told that if Zero cared so much about saving them let Zero come and help them fight against Cornelia, as that would be the only way he would be getting out of the base alive.

Not that the 'escaping ban' would be able to stop him, his escape was underground, not through the myriad of entrances the base had. He had thought about making his way down and waiting for Sugiyama to break through to get him… Then he had looked around and noticed what really made this surreal. The council looked to be in their late sixties, most of the guards and 'officers', for lack of a better term, seemed to be in their forties, but the majority of the group seemed to be in their young twenties or even younger. He could have sworn he saw a kid maybe fourteen running ammo to the AA guns a second ago.

That lead to a new problem. It was completely ok for him to abandon the adults for their own stupidity but how could he abandon these kids that were just doing what their leaders were telling them to. It was something he would have to think on.

Walking over to a place to sit and think he saw a young teenage girl making her way towards him while seeming to be trying to get his attention.

Taking a deep breath he changed direction and started making his way over to her, noting that while she was ina fairly visible spot she was out of the way from where everyone else was moving around.

He was barely there before the purple haired girl bluntly asked, "You work for this Zero right?"

He quirked an eyebrow, "Yes."

She nodded sharply, "Good. They're idiots if they think dying here is a good idea, I say. So when is Zero going to be arriving to help."

He snorted, "He's not, there are other things he will be doing when Cornelia is distracted. The plan is to get people out of here without attracting to much attention, we know what the Britannians are going to do so we had everything planned."

He couldn't help but pity the girl as despair and rage warred on her face, "What do you mean he…."

She trailed off before looking at him with confusion as his words sunk in, "What do you mean the plan is to get us out? How can that work if Zero is not coming?"

A little annoyed at that question, "Zero is in charge but he can not do everything. He helps plan things out and while overall he is in charge he does not need to tell everyone what to do and command them in every situation. Granted this problem is not something we thought we would encounter."

Her brown eyes seemed to pierce him as she stared at him, "You mean you have a way out of here?"

Nodding, "Yes I do. Well I will. It's is going to take the others a while to get everything ready but yeah, there will be a way out tomorrow when Cornelia attacks."

She again nodded her head sharply, "Good. I have people to find then. Most of these kids are too stupid to have followed Taichi when he left but I'll be damned if I let them die because of some self important stooges. I'll meet you here tomorrow with everyone I can get when they realize what is really happening when the Britannians deploy."

And just like that she was gone sprinting off down one of the tunnels. Sighing to himself, it looked like it was time for him to do his part and find out which tunnel the exit would be down. He made a note to himself that next time they do something like this he was so going to bring a map and he would not just assume everything would go alright and leave without one.

****G'G****

C.C. frowned lightly as the door to Nunnally's room closed behind her. Nunnally and her had been having tea and she thought they had been having fun and enjoying each other's company. She had even refrained from teasing the sweet girl too much. Near the end though the younger girl had started to act odd, and seemed to want to leave her presence for no apparent reason.

Sighing to herself she decided to make use of the time that Lelouch was not around and find Rolo to entertain herself. Taking a quick glance at a clock and noting the time she decided to get started on making dinner and she would make Rolo help her in the crafting of a true pizza. Licking her lips in anticipation of the glorious food she planned to have Rolo help her make she turned abruptly and headed for his room.

Knocking lightly she was happy when the young man opened the door for her, and even more pleased when he had a small smile on his face. "Rolo I have a very important assignment for you."

As his smile faded into a guarded look she stifled a giggle. "What do you want me to do?"

She playfully stuck her tongue out at him, "You are going to help me make dinner for me and Nunnally tonight. We are giving Sayoko the night off so she can have more free time to enjoy at home for personal reasons she discussed in private with myself. Is that understand?"

She noticed that his guard fell for a moment showing disappointment before he gathered himself again, "What does Nunnally want for dinner then?"

"We will be making pizza."

He shot her a disappointed look before rolling his eyes, "You are not going to leave me alone until I agree to help will you?"

Grabbing and pulling him into the hall she smiled as he only stiffened for a moment before relaxing, "Why of course."

Keeping one arm around him she practically dragged him down the hall towards the kitchen, "I have made sure that Lelouch keeps everything I could ever need to make pizza fully stocked."

"I am aware. That is why one cupboard actually has a label saying 'Pizza supplies'."

Waving off his dry attempt at humor, "Well a man should learn not to have his lady want for anything. You really should remember that lesson for later in life."

Pushing open the door she quickly made her way towards what could be called her cupboard, opened it and started tossing things onto the table. Midway through deciding how many kinds of cheese she was going to get out of the fridge Rolo asked a question that stopped her in her tracks, "Why are you trying to make me feel useful?"

Slowly she turned to look at him while setting down the glass jar of sauce and tilted her head a little to the side, "What do you mean?"

She was rather confused from where this was coming from and a little disturbed from the glum look on the younger boy's face, "You don't actually need my help, you just want me to feel occupied as Big Brother doesn't want me to help him anymore."

She was about to deny what he just said, but stopped herself short when she realized that there was a sliver of truth to that even if it was not true in the way Rolo clearly thought.

"Rolo… Lelouch just… Rolo sit down please, this will not be easy for me to explain."

Putting a reproachful look on when he did not do as she said right away she waited till he sat down, ignoring the fact he decided to sit on the countertop rather than a chair.

Looking the younger boy in the eyes she put all thoughts of pizza out of her mind, as hard as that was, as this conversation would need her complete attention, "Rolo you have to understand, that Lelouch has changed from the Lelouch you remember as much as you yourself have changed."

Holding up a hand to forestall any interruptions before they start, "Rolo he held you as you died saving him. I can assure you he never wants to have to experience that again."

"But he needed me!"

She really did feel for the boy, raging at feeling useless sometimes was something she could understand, "Rolo, that is enough. Yes he needed your help, and both he and I are eternally grateful. However, you have to understand that to Lelouch the thought of losing you is almost like the thought of losing Nunnally. You are his little brother."

There were so many emotions parading across the boy's face, joy, envy, desperation, frustration… "Rolo I think… I think this is something you need to talk to Lelouch about."

As the boy's face whipped up to stare at her she smiled sympathetically, "This is what Lelouch was talking about when he told you that he wanted you to talk to him. He wanted you to go to him with your problems so he can help you with them."

Looking down completely devoid of any resistance Rolo muttered, "Big Brother already has enough to deal with."

Moving over to where Rolo was sitting she gently placed her hand under the younger boy's chin and lifted it up so she was looking him in the eyes again, "Lelouch will always have time for you Rolo. So promise me you will talk to him tomorrow at the latest ok, I want you there to watch his back. Your brother has plans for Cornelia, and I worry about how dangerous they will be for him. It's bad enough that he is out there without anyone that is completely loyal to him yet."

Waiting for the younger boy to nod she moved her hand to the top of his head and ruffled his hair, "Well now that that's settled let's move onto something more important… Pizza."

She smiled again as Rolo rolled his eyes at her in his usual way. It was slow going, but getting the boy to open up was really worth it no matter how difficult it was for her, and not just for her plans for him and Nunnally. Just to see the younger boy smile was worth it.

****G's G****

Neatly stacking the papers on what was his desk in the mobile unit Lelouch thought back to what happened yesterday.

After he managed to calm Rolo down and assure the younger boy he was not in any trouble, he had almost made it back to the student council meeting before his phone rung. He had only talked to Inoue for a moment before he had set off to get here as soon as he could. He had made excuses to Milly and the rest of the council saying he had something that had to be taken care of right then. He had gone back to their part of the Clubhouse and told Nunnally and Rolo that he was going to have to go out and wouldn't be back till tomorrow night. He had used the excuse that with Cornelia looking into different parts of the bureaucracy he was going to have to change a few things at the safe house or she might catch on. Not his best excuse but Nunnally had bought it, and Rolo and C.C. knew what he was doing today anyway.

He had raced here to get a grip on what he had been told. The biggest problem was that the plan really did not need to change much to still work, and he did not know for sure what Oghi, Inoue, and Tsukiko would do on their own while being faced with this situation.

And it turned out he sort of did have a reason to be worried. They had managed to get every ounce of information about the situation they could from this Koushiro and were trying to put together a new plan. They had started to come up with some way of trying to save the Blood of the Samurai, although the ideas were far too complicated and put too many of their people in unneeded danger.

He had called Koushiro back into the room and asked one simple question, "Will your people be able to move around the base still without anyone noticing anything out of the ordinary?"

Koushiro had been sure that a good number would be able to, and so he had Koushiro contact this splinter group of the Blood of the Samurai to meet with Sugiyama while also telling Inoue to contact Sugiyama and tell him about the situation and to meet up with this Taichi to see if they could create a plan to save more members of Blood of the Samurai and retrieve more supplies as discretely as possible. He also told Inoue to tell Sugiyama they need to get in touch with Minami and find a way to get him out of there.

They then had to wait until Sugiyama, called wanting to explain some of the things they had found out as well as some of the improvising Taichi had come up with. The plans he came up with showed that this Taichi had promise as a future Black Knight Squad Commander and Lelouch had agreed to them, adding a few tweeks just because he knew how Britannia and more importantly Cornelia would operate in such a situation.

At that point he had merely gone upstairs to what was now his office at the base, locked the door and slept there rather then going back to the clubhouse.

Shooting the map of the arms warehouse one last look he briskly walked out the door and downstairs, making his way into the warehouse proper. It was time to address everyone and explain exactly what was planned for today.

Noting that everyone looked at him when he exited the mobile home unit, he started to call their attention, "It's time people. Ohgi you have the map of the subway route we will be taking correct?"

"Yes Sir."

He nodded, "Good, Tsukiko are the Humvees ready to move out?"

"Everything is set, and the tanks are full."

"Good. Hibiki did you get that Sutherland set up like I wanted?"

The younger man was a little put off at being put in the spotlight, "With Koushiro's help I think so. Not knowing what you have planned though we can't be fully certain."

He expected that, "Ok then let me explain the last few details of this plan. First you are all aware of where we are attacking and that the guards will likely be armed. However we have Knightmares leading the assault and it is unlikely they will have anything on hand that can damage a Knightmare, so I would like people to focus on incapacitating and capturing them rather than killing them."

He held up his hand to stop the murmurs that sprang up at that remark, "These men work for an illegal arms dealer. While it might be unlikely they might know places, people, or even names that could help us find other storehouses. We could manage to locate their suppliers or even those they sell to, and that information would help us greatly. I do not want you to endanger yourselves, if it's between you or them, they die. But if you can safely take them alive don't pass up the chance. Is that understood?"

The initial shakiness after his statement was gone so he continued, "Ohgi and Tsukiko will be the ones leading this raid and are aware of what needs to be prioritized, so listen to them well."

Kallen spoke up, "Are you not going to be there or something?"

Ignoring Ohgi's almost compoltianary 'Kallen' he smiled behind his mask, "Yes and no Kallen. I will be present but I will not be taking part in the raid. Hibiki set up a Sutherland for me so that it will have a much greater communications array and networking capability, which I will be using as a distraction. We will be attacking the compound when Cornelia starts her offensive, so at that point I will be using the communication array to contact Cornelia's forces."

Holding up his hands again to silence the worry he could hear in everyone's voices he continued, "Cornelia is too far away to be of any danger to our plans. It is a distraction for our people there. Myself being willing to talk will be a distraction they can not afford and will make their commanders less likely to notice they are running into a trap. It will also be rather demoralizing for the Britannian forces to not even know where to look to find me when I can directly call their Military command."

His eyes shot around when he heard laughter, only to stop on Tamaki. It took the man a second before he calmed down, "Hey if you can get a call to the military command, do you think you could get into the consulate systems the same way?"

He nodded, "I could for now. At least until they switch how they have their computer's security system setup, which they will likely do shortly after."

There was a perverted gleam in Tamaki's eyes then, "Think you can get some pictures of the Princess getting changed? I'm sure those would be great with how huge her-"

He might not agree with his sister or even like her most of the time but the perverse way Tamaki was talking about her was making him angry, so it came as a welcome interruption when Kallen decked Tamaki so hard he tumbled over backwards.

****G's G****

Guilford placed a mug of coffee, black with two sugars, in front of the Princess as she stared at the G1's map display one last time before addressing the officers present for this.

Slowly she looked up at the men and woman on the G1 bridge, "You are all here because I believe you are competent enough to be trusted with this. You will be observed and if you fail to measure up to what we expect from you, you will find yourself demoted till your incompetence can no longer hurt innocent people. You are soldiers of Britannia, and it is your duty and responsibility to protect those members of our country. Is that understood?"

"Yes your Highness." rang throughout the room.

"Good. You know your stations. Stadford, Bannon, Kingsford, your tanks will be opening up our assault, I want you to blow as much of that pile of rocks to dust as possible. Williamson, Edmund, Fletcher, you and your men will be accompanying myself and Lord Guilford in Knightmares, we will be dropping down onto the base from above directly following the tank bombardment. The rest of you will be here with General Darlton overseeing and looking for anything that should be noticed. Is there any questions now before we deploy?"

Edmund slowly raised a hand and he noticed Cornelia frowned at that. He could understand, they had been very meticulous in finding the officers that would be going with them in Knightmares, so he could not figure out the problem.

"I am sorry your highness. I understand your orders… I just find myself confused as to her presence here. To my understanding from our earlier briefing there will not be any Purist units on the field."

As Edmund pointed to her his eyes fell on Officer Nu and he frowned tightly. He might trust the woman but after everything that had happened with the Purists the rest of the group would be leery.

Officer Nu seemed to take it in stride though and did not react much at all, the Princess however did seem annoyed that anyone would question why someone else was present, "Officer Nu is here to be observed just as the rest of you are. Currently the military force in this Area is in disrepair. Some like her might find themselves transferred to areas that need her more as units that we have no need of are removed. Nothing is determined yet but this information is not to be passed along is that understood?"

He smirked as more than a few faces paled at that. It seemed like the little bit of cleaning up they had done the last few days had really hit home.

Next to him he heard Darlton mutter, "Good. Seems like some of them are taking the lessons from the last few days to heart."

He nodded his head in agreement, "Now if only they can pass that along to the rest of the idiots."

****G's G****

Milly felt that she was missing something as she sat next to Shirley in the student council room. She looked across at Rivalz to see if it jogged her memoryof maybe some interesting new event idea she wanted to inflict on her prim and proper student population. Still coming up as blank as the look on Rivalz face she frowned in annoyance.

"Another one?"

Turning to look at the source of the noise she asked, "Another what, Nina?"

"It's just… They are…"

As Nina stuttered she grabbed the TV remote and hit a few buttons putting the news report Nina had been watching up on the screen.

"So viewers we have good news for you. Princess Cornelia has not even been here a week and she is already hard at work clearing out these ever present eleven terrorists. Personally I hope she gets rid of the lot of them don't you agree William?"

The instant thought of how good news like that was rose up inside her. Then they were swiftly crushed by the fear and worry that took a hold of her heart.

Now it was happening again; Cornelia was spearheading an attack, this time on a Japanese terrorist group and at the same time Lelouch was missing again. Just like when Clovis had died, and when Zero had attacked the Purists...

It was time she had a conversation with her friend. Today was all the proof she needed for her fears to be confirmed in her mind, Lelouch was Zero, and she had to get him to stop before she permanently lost her closest friend.


	11. I Have not yet Begun to Fight

Well here it is everyone, enjoy this chapter :)

First, there is still a poll up if anyone is interested.

Second, and I know this might sadden some of you. I will be working more on my Harry Potter story for a while, I have kind of been neglecting it and I would like to get it a few updates. I'm not abandoning this one but it might be a little longer before the next update.

Remember I own nothing in the Code Geass Universe except my O.C.s

Chapter 10: I have not yet Begun to Fight

"Looks like despite your early lead you are falling behind Gordon. Score's three to two now bastard. That bottle is mine."

Chris shoved the next shell into the loading chamber as the tank's radio cut out and slammed the chamber shut.

The tank commander's angry voice came from above, "Mathius you better hit one of those bloody guns this time. Arnold get us closer to the damn base itself, those AA guns they have can barely chip our paint job and we'll be fixing that soon."

He felt the tank slowly creep forward before the main gun fired and the commander yelled down, "Load again. Mathius I told you to hit those damn animals. You miss again and you will be repainting and buffing this tank until it shines you understand me! Why the hell is that chamber not loaded yet?!"

As he slammed the chamber shut he yelled up, "Chamber ready Sir."

"Next time don't make me ask again, or you will be joining Mathius in buffing you understand."

"YES SIR."

There was only a few moments delay after he slammed the camber shut before he felt the recoil of the main gun. This time it was accompanied by an exclamation of joy from the commander as he grabbed the tank radio, "That's another one for me Dempsey. I will not be letting you get that bottle."

As he hefted the next round into the chamber it was not commander Dempsey's voice that responded, "Will you two knucklehead keep the chatter down. This might not be the main com channel but I don't want to hear your idiot drivel the entire op, you got that?"

There was a moment of silence after Captain Stadford's voice cut across the conversation before the commander responded rather meekly, "Yes Sir. It won't happen again."

Before anything more could be said the primary radio buzzed to life, "This is General Darlton, all tank units are to stand down. I repeat all tank units are to stand down. The next part of our operation will be beginning now."

****G's G****

Kallen would be the first to admit that she found Zero quite annoying and pompous with the fact he acted like he always had the best ideas which always seemed to fall into place. However, she was still pleased when she heard his voice over the radio, "Sugiyama has called in, the tanks have stopped their bombardment. That's our signal. Q1, R1, R2, and B1 move on the warehouse. All P units wait for the all clear before you move in. R1 you are in command for the rest of this operation."

And with those magic words her wait was over. It was finally time for action. She kicked her Glasgow into action, shooting out of the decrepit building they had been hiding in.

She vaguely heard Ohgi restate what everyone was supposed to do from the radio as she closed the distance to the compound. It was her job to lead the charge and destroy the compound gate, as this would allow easier access into the compound than going through the two foot thick concrete wall around the compound. She would then push forward into the warehouse itself. There she was to apprehend anyone present in the warehouse interior as well as make sure nobody could not make it inside the warehouse to arm themselves while Ohgi and the others rounded them up.

Not slowing her down at all she raised her right arm and extended the stun tonfa attached to it, before slamming it down on the metal gate. There was a feeling of satisfaction as the hit resulted in the crumpled metal gate clattering to the ground. Pushing the remains aside she continued forward inside the compound while getting a reading from her factsphere as she went. There had been someone off to the left of the building but they would be dealt with by the others. Her focus was on the person making for the entrance to the warehouse itself.

Pushing as much speed as she could into the landspinners she stooped her Knightmare forward with her hand close to the ground. She tried to be as gentle as possible as she grabbed the man right before crashing into the warehouse and scanning the interior with her factsphere.

She was momentarily in awe at what she saw. There was rows and rows of weapons, ammo, explosives, and piles of crates and boxes she couldn't even guess the contents of.

There was however no one else present that her factsphere could pick up, "This is Q1, my scans are coming up negative for anyone within the warehouse."

Ohgi's voice came across the radio, "B1 go and assist Q1 with her prisoner. Q1 do a sweep of the building. We only found two people and Zero's reports said there would always be three on duty. K1 and K2 bring the vehicles in for loading. P units move in and start loading the vehicles."

"R1 even with those humvees and everyone carrying everything they can we couldn't take even a tenth of what we have found here."

As Yoshida's Knightmare moved up alongside her she passed off the man she had grabbed without a second look at the guy. While she wanted to feel a sense of vindication that Zero might be wrong, she found she felt more worried about where this third person was. It was as if she could not even think he could be wrong about something like this, it was too important of a detail.

As she took off down the aisle of the warehouse she could hear people starting to make their way inside the warehouse, though they seemed to be sticking near the entrance.

She ignored the chatter on the radio talking about what they were finding as she scanned the factsphere's visual. She vaguely heard Tamaki say something over the radio about some gun when she caught a movement out of the corner of the screen. She stopped dead in her tracks and turned to focus on the direction she noticed the movement. For a second she couldn't see anything.

Then she noticed that the floor started to move to the side two aisles over as if someone was opening up the floor. Swiftly she pushed the Glasgow towards the end of the aisle so she could go to the correct aisle.

She managed to make it to the far end of the aisle and had started moving down it when she saw a woman climbing out of a trap door with some kind of RPG laying next to her.

The woman looked up and upon seeing the Knightmare froze. The lights in the warehouse had illuminated her face when she looked up and Kallen couldn't believe she was looking at what was clearly the third guard, who was clearly Japanese.

And just like that everything unfroze and the woman scrabbled for the weapon next to her and having been moving towards the woman she acted on instinct and fired her slash harken.

It was a direct hit, passing clear through the woman. There was no plume of blood or any other massive effect, just a meaty thump and the bifurcated body falling like a marionette with the strings cut.

"Q1 what did you find?"

She heard Ohgi's voice but it sounded so distant as she looked at the mutilated body. She had killed people before, hell she had killed people in this very Glasgow. She had shot down VOTL's, destroyed tanks, she brought down an entire battalion of Knightmare by collapsing the ground beneath them that no one probably walked away from. As she stared at that body, she realized though she had never seen anyone she had killed before. This was the first time she's seen the body of one she had killed. Bile seemed to rush into her mouth as she quickly opened the cockpit of her Glasgow.

****G's G****

Despite the fact they were not allowed to turn on any form of light this was far from the darkest night dive Marine Phillip Kelly had ever been on. The water was crystal clear and with how shallow they were diving the half moon was bright enough to give an adequate view through the water.

Their entry had gone off without a hitch. The plane had been at too high of an altitude for radar to catch and their jump hadn't had any problems. They had landed a little off target but Lieutenant Adams had managed to get them back onto it.

Now however they were approaching the piers of the Chinese naval base, and it was rather odd. Rather than the usual piers that were supported from pillars, these ones were constructed as one solid slab of concrete that stretched into the ocean.

They were moving slowly singlefile towards one of the empty berths to decrease their chance of being caught.

Sam was in front as she was slowly starting her descent towards the seafloor to further decrease their chance of being spotted from above. It was their plan B to surface on the far side of the berth next to the shore itself, the main plan had been to surface underneath the piers themselves.

He was still a good fifty yards from the berth when he felt a tingly feeling wash over him. He slowed and looked behind him and caught Diana's eyes as she passed through where he had just been, but she just motioned for him to keep moving forward. If no one else noticed anything, it must have just been nerves. With Sam almost at the berth this was becoming very real, so he steeled himself as he continued on.

Then however it happened. He was not sure what exactly had happened but Sam jerked to a stop though he was unsure of why. It looked like she had kicked up a plume of sand from here. Then he noticed that the hose connecting her mouthpiece to her tank had been severed and she was leaking bubbles.

The lieutenant was making his way to assist as she frantically waved him away when a faint rumbling could be heard.

Before he could pinpoint the source of the noise he noticed the Lieutenant's hand seem to catch on something in the water, before a similar plume as to the one that had almost encompassed Sam started to spread from the area the lieutenant's hand had been.

Then he froze and held out his hand to stop Diana as she came up behind him much to her annoyance. He however was kicking himself, he knew what that looked like, how had he missed it. Diving in the dark at night you don't see color well unless you had a light directly on the object, that was not sand, it was a blood cloud. There must be something there near the bottom, maybe some form of razor wire or something, something they couldn't see in the poor light.

He watched the Lieutenant ascend a good ten feet before time stilled as events played out before him. A large torpedo like shape came shooting out of the side of the concrete pier on the Lieutenant's right and when the shape grabbed the lieutenant he knew what it was. Though he had no idea how the Chinese had gotten a shark to function like a guard dog.

He felt movement behind him and to his surprised when he looked he saw Diana swimming away. He cursed the desertion as much as he cursed the fact he had better ideas than to retreat himself. It seemed like an amphibious approach would not work. Taking one last look in the direction of the pier he saw that Jake and Steve were making their way east parallel to the shoreline as another shark has joined the first in attacking the Lieutenant. The two sharks were circling and grabbing chunks as they feel, but they definitely knew where the trap was as none of them moved in the direction of Sam's body.

Cautiously moving backwards keeping his eyes focused on the sharks he mentally swore when he noticed one slowly start making its way towards the direction of Jake and Steve while the other turned his way. Not wanting to draw anymore attention to himself he continued as he was, slowly moving backwards. The hairs on the back of his neck were on end with how nervous he was. They were armed for combat on the surface but nothing for fighting underwater other than an insignificant dive knife and no five inch metal blade was going to stop a ten foot shark. He would be better off taking his rifle off his back and swinging it like a club to make it back down.

Then out of the blue a light on the fin of the shark lit up and sparked. The shark sharply turned back towards the pier and the light instantly went out. Did the sharks have a range limit then, could that be of use to them? Shaking his head, there was just too much he did not know about this problem right now. It was time to regroup with someone and come up with a plan.

Cursing again he made after Diana's distant figure, it was better to not leave anyone alone. Two sets of two had a better chance of finishing the objective than one group of three and a single person by themselves.

****G's G****

Andreas Darlton looked at the screen in front of him before activating the comm, "This is General Darlton, all tank units are to stand down. I repeat all tank units are to stand down. The next part of our operation will be beginning now."

He watched the screen as tanks ceased firing on que, pleased that they had managed to do as told to a man. He would admit he was concerned with the caliber of men that they were working with in Area 11, but so far their choices seemed to be holding up.

After a moment where no more of those antiquated AA guns popped out of the base he grabbed the comm again, "Princess , it is time for your men to start their descent."

"Understood Darlton. Men engage release systems."

He turned to the officers on the bridge with him, "All of you, this is where your jobs will be most important. I want you to be looking for anything out of place, anything that does not add up, as soon as you notice something say so. While we do not believe Zero will be making an appearance here we will not be taking any chances is that clear? Good, now to your stations."

He had barely finished speaking when one of the communications officers yelled out, "Sir there is an emergency call coming in from the Consulate!"

Had they missed a spy? Had Zero used the fact that they were here to attack the Consulate while it's main defenses were away? Shaking his head minutely, "Put it through."

As the visual feed opened on the main screen the first thing he noticed was the feed was coming from the cockpit of a Sutherland, the second was that Zero was reclining in said Sutherland's cockpit.

"Ah Andreas Darlton, I must admit that you were the lowest on the three I wished to be able to talk to, but no bother. Is by any chance Cornelia present?"

This was very odd statement which he couldn't really make sense of He could faintly hear music over the feed as well, no words but it seemed to be the same kind of 'modern rock' music that David listened to.

"Start tracing this call now. Lucius get in touch with the Consulate Security! "

Zero on the screen just waved his hand dismissively, "You need not worry. I'm nowhere near your Consulate, I'm merely using the fact that Clovis' clearance to the Consulate's system still works. I honestly assumed that you would have changed it by now but with all the problems you have been having I can see it being forgotten."

Ignoring the scurrying of the officers on the bridge he looked at Zero and decided to see what he could find out from this man, having had more than one conversation with enemy leaders and terrorists before, "We will not be bartering for the safety of this terrorist organization. Though if you wish you are free to try and save them."

Zero just shrugged, "I'm not one for giving Britannia what they want, but I will not sacrifice the lives of my men to try and save those that have given up on living. I merely heard what was going on and decided to see it I would be able to talk to the Princess. As for bartering, there is nothing you can offer that I want, and nothing I want can you offer."

That was a peculiar statement, "And what exactly do you want?"

There was silence for a second before Zero answered in a serious voice, "A better world."

That had not been the answer he had expected, "And what do you think will happen if you could possible achieve this better world and drive Britannia from Area 11? Do you believe that we will just give up? Do you think that China will let you stay free?'

"You seem to be laboring under the delusion that I fight only for Japan's independence. I do not think so small as to think that could make a world that is better than the one we currently inhabit."

One of the officers on the bridge muttered something about delusional mad men. Deciding to address that later he couldn't help but ask, "And how do you propose to to accomplish such a goal then?"

"By removing those that oppress and abuse others from power no matter what their circumstance of birth."

With how many times he had used that 'circumstance of birth' argument against promoting someone based on their noble status he couldn't help but wonder if this man was actually a disillusioned Britannian. That would be something he could look into later, "Is that your defense for the murder of Prince Clovis?"

"There is no defense needed when one puts down a rabid dog."

"A bit hypocritical for a terrorist to say."

There was no pause as Zero responded, "And if the Japanese don't stop needless violence against innocent Britannian civilians I will end them as well. The people of Britannia are not my enemy, the corruption that infects your country is my target. Starting with the head of the snake."

There was such vehemence in that retort he actually was off balance by it. When he was finally about to respond an alarm started going off signalling that a Knightmare was no longer operational.

"Well it looks like you have other things to worry about right now. Maybe next time I will be able to talk to Cornelia."

As the feed winked out his mind was racing a mile a minute trying to catch up to what just happened. He grabbed the comm and started barking orders on autopilot. He however couldn't shake the feeling that Zero had planned this somehow.

Looking down at the bridge staff he yelled, "Did any of you manage to get the location that call came from?"

There was silence after that, and only years of disappointing recruits stopped him from hitting something.

Then Officer Nu spoke up, "I couldn't find an IFF signal to lock onto so I tried something different. I was able to follow the relays that the message was sent through."

He was already over looking at her screen before she stopped speaking. He read everything he could get from the computer screen, "Good job Officer Nu, that's the type of innovation that we need to see here, good work."

As the map clearly showed Zero was somewhere within a mile of the last tower shown, which included most of the western Saitama Ghetto...

****G's G****

It had taken a lot of effort to pull everything off while not alerting the rest of the Blood of the Samurai that would not approve of the plan and in all honesty Minami wished they had had more time. Wasn't that always the case with most plans though. He shoved all that aside as he ran to the rendezvous point that they had agreed on earlier as the entire base seemed to be collapsing around him following the tanks assault.

He had found the which tunnel led to where he needed to get out and stayed there until Sugiyama had managed to break through about seven hours ago. Then the changes to the plan had been explained to him and he himself had surprised Sugiyama and the younger leader from the Blood of the Samurai Taichi about how he had met with a girl that was trying to gather people to get out.

With the help of Taichi's people they started funneling everything they could out through the tunnel. It was slow work as they did not want to arouse suspicion, especially as they had managed to evacuate almost thirty more people so far.

And while those people were working on getting everything out, Sugiyama and Taichi along with the rest of their people were rigging the escape tunnel to explode along with having it contain other surprises. Even he didn't know all the details of what they were going to do down there with how fast they were changing plans.

He saw a group of well armed people already near the passage and more coming to join them. By some stroke of luck it looked like twenty of their people had arrived unharmed despite a few of them having been conscripted to work the AA guns during the tank assault.

The buzz of an assault rifle filled the air.

"Shit. Fucking move people!"

The words were out of his mouth before four Blood of the Samurai members had hit the floor. It was only seconds later that out of one of the tunnels leading outside a Knightmare came rushing in, a rifle in one hand and a giant lance skewering the AA carts at the end of the tracks in the other. It was not a Sutherland as it was much too bulky but he had no idea what kind of Knightmare it was from the appearance.

Bullets flew in every direction as the members of the Blood of the Samurai fired on the Knightmare as over a dozen more of the machines started to appear from more tunnels. He felt a lump form in his throat as from the tunnel right next to their passage down came a bright purple Sutherland.

As the Sutherland brought it's rifle to bear, a belt flew through the air and caught the end of the nozzle before wrapping around the gun's barrel. The Knightmare pilot tilted their gun to get a better look at what was on it, and it was then that he saw what was clipped to the belt.

The resulting boom was covered by the rest of the noise going off in the base but it did it's job as the grenades strapped to the belt turned the rifle to slag.

As the Knightnmare pilot lifted the gun to get a better look at it from his factsphere bursts of gunfire came from the group he was running to, and he watched sparks fly as the bullets struck the Knightmare's landspinners. He reached the group as the pilot seemed to finally make a decision, throwing the ruined gun to the side while deploying the stun tonfa on the Knightmare's arm. However, when the giant machine moved to attack them the damage to the wheels became apparent as the landspinners failed to move despite the rest of the knightmare moving forward.

As the Knightmare went down to it's own weight he grabbed the the closest person of 'his' group and pushed them towards the passageway, "Move people! MOVE!"

Thankfully they listened and he almost breathed a sigh of relief as they started down the passage except he saw that the first Knightmare that had entered the base making it's way in their direction, and while it was bulkier than the Sutherlands he did not see it having any problems following them. The passage might be small enough that it would lose some maneuverability but it really did not need to dodge anything anyway.

There was not suppose to be this many Knightmares. They had planned for the enemy to have eight to ten at most, not for the more than twenty of them.

"Run, we need to make that first turn before that thing catches us!"

If they made the turn they would come out in a more open area. While that would give the Knightmares the mobility they lacked in the tunnels it was also where they had a few men set up with the few rockets launchers that had been in the base's armory.

He heard it that instance, the sound of the Knightmare's landspinners entering the tunnel seemed to echo all around them. It was only out of the corner of his eye that he saw someone bolt past him back towards the Knightmare.

He looked over his shoulder to see the girl from yesterday running towards the Knightmare with one of the rockets in her hands before dropping to her knees and hefting the launcher to her shoulder. She took only a second before she fired, shooting up the passageway without really aiming.

The heat from the blowback was immense and he could feel his hair starting to curl. His attention however was on the rocket as it flew true to course right at the cockpit of the Knightmare, only for the Knightmare to turn at the last second and take the hit to it's side blowing it's left arm off at the shoulder but leaving the cockpit unscathed as it continued to drive onward.

Bereft of it's assault rifle the Knightmare raised it's lance.

The last thing he saw as he turned to escape was the young girl staring defiantly up at the purple Knightmare and it's golden lance.

****G's G****

Nelson looked at the screen again before smoothing his collar for the fourth time since he had decided to make this call. He knew that while he technically outranked Gibbs now, the man had been respected in the military before he was even born.

Still he needed to talk to someone else who had served as a guard at Ares Villa about what he had been sent. He had originally put it all aside as bullshit but then he had looked again and come to two startling conclusions; first that the information was true and second that it was written up by Jeremiah. He had written far too many reports with the man when they were younger that he still recognized how Jeremiah wrote even after all these years.

Taking one final look at the clock he sighed and pushed the button to start the call. It only rang twice before it clicked and Gibbs showed up on the screen.

"You requested my assistance Sir?"

His lips tightened to a strained smile, "I bet you never thought you would have to say something like that to me old man?"

Gibbs just gave him that look, "No. I always knew that if they put you anywhere important you would eventually start pelting me with questions."

He laughed a deep belly laugh and it felt good as the tension seemed to flow out of him, "Well at least you had faith I could get somewhere. It's nice to see you, we all seemed to fall out of touch with each other after…"

Gibbs grunted at him, "Yes we did. We are not here for pleasantries though."

That was so like Gibbs and it brought back his worry full force, "No we are not. I recently received intel that I want to hear your opinion on. The files will not be sent to you due to security reasons but I have checked and verified them…"

He trailed off unsure of how to proceed, Gibbs however had no such compunctions, "Then why have you not contacted your fleet commander? He would be better positioned to offer guidance."

He couldn't help fidgeting at that, and Gibbs noticed.

"So this has nothing to do with the military then."

He sighed, "Yes. Are you on a secure private connection like I asked?"

Gibbs nodded slowly, "As secure as my men can make it. What the hell did you stumble into you idiot?"

After a heavy exhale he spoke, "The only guards left alive from Ares Villa are myself, you, Denise, Roger, and for now Jeremiah. Everyone else has died in freak accidents, suicide missions or unknown circumstances."

Gibbs looked at him critically, "I don't believe in accidents."

"I know Sir."

Gibbs face looked grave, "And now Jeremiah has fallen as well. It does indeed look like whoever killed the Empress is cleaning up shop doesn't it?"

"That leads to the important news. Jeremiah is not dead, or at least he was alive after being captured by that terrorist, as it was him who sent me the information to begin with. He wants to set up a meeting with me. I figured I should talk to someone who..."

"That would be ill advised. You are an admiral. If it is a trap you would be exposed, and if it is not you would be too well watched by Britannia to not have that be noticed and recorded."

Gibbs seemed to be deep in thought when as he responded to the older man, "We can't just ignore this though. This is a distinct coverup targeting important people in the empire. Moreover it's an affront to the Empress' memory!"

Gibbs snorted, "Have you been that out of touch kid? The empire has trampled all over the Empress' memory, she has nothing left that serves as a reminder of her. Apparently not even her own guards are allowed to exist anymore. How did Jeremiah get the information anyway? Did he mention who this Zero character is?"

He gulped now coming to the part that Gibbs would not like, "About that… The information was given to Jeremiah by Zero I believe, but I checked it against other sources. All of it is true. Jeremiah never mentioned him though, but he did say that he had a mission 'we' would be working on to accomplish."

"So he is working with this terrorist that killed Clovis?"

"I don't know. The 'we' referred to him and myself."

Gibbs looked at something off screen for a second before looking at him again, "Prince Jasper is planning an attack on Africa soon and I will not be able to leave after that has started. I want you to set up a meeting with Jeremiah in Area 12. You will not be attending. You will be requesting the assistance of me and one of my teams in ferreting out a problem you have been having with disobedient staff. I have heard the Prince complain enough about it to know the basics and he would more then allow it."

"Wait you want me to set up a meeting then have you attend, not me? What if he doesn't show?"

Gibbs shot him that look again, "If he used the word 'we' to mean you and him, and sent you everything about the rest of the guards this has something to do with The Empress and our oaths. He will talk to me because we swore the same oath and he will need help with whatever he is caught up in. Then when I hear his explanation I will decide to help him or kill him. There is no room in Britannia for traitors as you are aware."

He gulped and nodded, "I'll get started on my request right away. I knew talking to you would help."

Gibbs snorted, "Yes I am sure you did Admiral."

****G's G****

"Princess Cornelia please return to the G1 base, a situation has come up."

Edmund barely acknowledged the radio as General Darlton's voice came across it.

"This is not the best time Darlton."

As he pushed his Knightmare towards the tunnel Princess Cornelia had gone down just moments ago while the forces here were being mopped up, the General replied, "Princess I really must insist, this is an urgent matter."

There was silence for a second before he skidded to a stop as Cornelia's Gloucester came careening out of the tunnel sans one arm, "Very well then." Her factsphere scanned the room before she commented, "Edmund take your men and clear out the rest of the group I followed. Leave none alive. Guilford you are in charge here now. Darlton I am on my way."

He flipped on his radio, "Yes Princess. Squad follow me, I will be taking point."

He heard a few conformational responses behind him as he started down the tunnel taking note of scattered mechanical parts which were most probably the remains of the Princess' arm. He almost stopped when he saw the body of one of those savages with a giant hole through her, but only chuckled after noticing that the launcher next to the girl was probably the one that damaged the Princess' Gloucester and it got what it deserved.

However only a short distance past that he came to a split in the path and he frowned in annoyance there was a chance here he would make the wrong choice and some other fool in his squad would get the credit, "Andrew, you and Taylor take the right hand route. Michael, Jordan you follow me."

It did not take long for the left passage to open to a large open area. Slowing to a halt he activated his factsphere to get a thorough scan of the area only for alarms to start blaring.

He lept to the side just avoiding a volley of rockets sailing past him which almost took one of his men out after he dodged it.

"Well it looks like the ants have some bite."

He snorted, "They have nothing. Andrew get over here we have something."

He sped towards the rockets origin point, a much larger tunnel than the one they had just come from. He sped after the small group he saw retreating towards a newly dug out exit at the end of the long tunnel. Smirking to himself he grabbed the radio, "Boys give them a minute to get comfortable and feel safe on the other side. A few feet of Eleven stone can't stop Britannia steel!"

He revelled in the cheers of his men as they formed up waiting for Andrew and Taylor to catch up. He checked his factsphere one last time and could faintly make out the people hiding on the other side of the exit.

"Now men."

There was adrenaline pumping through his veins as he raced down the tunnel.

He cursed slightly as Taylor pulled up alongside him. That girl was annoyingly the best in their squad with a Knightmare and always managed to squeeze more out of the damn machine then they could. It was sickening that some commoner was able to do better than a noble but…

His thoughts were derailed as the ground under Taylor's Knightmare exploded sending her spinning forward as the ground gave way beneath her. That would be annoying to explain as she ejected in the direction they were heading. He went to bark orders to his men, but was cut off by another explosion.

For a split second he wondered who else had been hit before a giant chunk of stone landed in front of him, and he crashed into it. He didn't even have time to curse as alarms flashed across his screen as more stones fell on him crushing the frame of the Knightmare. The alarms blared loudly as his own Knightmare exploded.

****G's G****

"Are you sure hun? That seems like it might be dangerous and I really don't want to be away from the girls, especially right now."

Denise watched her husband scratch the back of his head before he answered, "It will not be dangerous. You will be working as an instructor for only four days a week for only four hours a day right there at the Academy in Berlin. They know you trained with Lady Marianne, a woman without peer, years ago on how to use a Knightmare and they would like you to help the recruits, especially now that the MEF has fallen to Britannia. I know you don't like the idea, but I was sort of bribed that if you took the job I would be allowed some extra time off this month and would be home for two weeks…"

It was a good idea and if he was home she could bring up the emails that she received, they were just too dangerous to send to her husband with all of his things being monitored while he was in Paris.

"Say I was to agree who would I talk to?"

Randy smiled, "I can get in touch with General Penrod tomorrow and have him contact you if you are serious. However, more importantly before I brought this up, you were telling me about how Becky has made her choices for what extracurricular she wishes to learn."

She smiled at her husband and pushed any unpleasantness aside for now, "Well you see she wants to be just like her dad and help forge a peace treaty with her best friend. So she has decided to join a reading group that will prepare her for Junior high debate club, as well as joining a history study group."

****CGatCG****

Sugiyama stared at Minami over the crashed Sutherland cockpit in front of them, "You really think we should open this?"

Minami nodded slowly, an odd look on his face since he had met up with them, "Yes. Zero always is one step ahead of Britannia because he knows what is going on. Yeah this is probably some random soldier of Britannia that is of no importance but they might know something that could help us. I say we open it and take the pilot with us if they are alive. If not we put a bullet in the dead body to send a message."

He stared hard at his friend at that statement, he liked the idea of taking a prisoner personally but that was more bloodthirsty than anything he had ever heard Minami say before. When Taichi voiced his approval he slowly nodded his head, "Alright someone grab one of those pickaxes. Let's get this open quick as we don't have much time. It's unlikely they know that we are getting out of here but we need to escape before they come looking."

****CGatCG****

C.C. was rather annoyed that she had to go answer the door. She knew that Lelouch would be getting back soon, but she figured that Lelouch would at least have the courtesy to just come in without annoying her. Plus with Sayoko at her home attending to Jeremiah and Nunnally and Rolo sitting down to listen to the radio looking too cute for her to let them be interrupted she was out of people that she could make answer the door this late without her having to get up herself.

When she opened the door she was rather surprised to see Milly there. However, not as surprised as she was by how nervous Milly seemed to be, in fact never in all of Lelouch's memories had she ever seen the self assured girl so worried about anything.

Deciding to try and be as cordial and reassuring as she could while she greeted Milly she asked, "Good evening Milly, I must admit this is a surprise. It is only me and the littler ones tonight, would you like to come in?"

If the girl's actions hadn't peaked her interest before the girl's response to her answering the door definitely did, the look that flashed across her face, like her worst fears had been confirmed, was by all means an unusual response to such a greeting.

The girl spoke in a slightly higher tone than normal, "And where is Lelouch?"

She shrugged in an indifferent manner, "He left yesterday afternoon. I was fairly sure he informed you. He should be home soon I think. If you would like me to relay a message I-"

Rather shrilly the blonde cut in, "I think I'll just wait for him here."

Tilting her head in a curious manner as she surveyed the girl she had to ask, "Out here? Are you sure you do not want to come inside?"

Milly was anxious which was easy to tell, but there was a hint of desperation in that worried tone that made her worry there was something that needed to be addressed immediately.

"No thank you. I just need to talk to Lelouch now."

Making herself look as serious as she could she asked the question that had immediately formed in her own mind as if the girl's worry was contagious, "Is Nunnally in danger?"

"NO."

The outburst from Milly actually made her jump a bit, while at the same time it made Milly look a little sheepish as well, "Nunnally is fine. It's Lelouch he is… I mean to say he might have…I think he might be…"

It was like a lightbulb went off in her head as Milly stuttered and stammered. Reaching out she gently grasped Milly's shoulder causing the Blonde to start before looking at her, "Might I suggest we either move to the Student Council room and wait there or you wait in Lelouch's bedroom. This will not be a discussion for the children to listen in on, and I can't leave you waiting alone. It would be rather rude."

When Milly slowly looked up searching her eyes with a piercing stare she knew that the blonde knew that she knew Milly knew about Zero.

Milly slowly nodded, her eyes now narrowed in a mix of annoyance and anger. "I will wait in the student Council room but I will have the door open. As soon as he enters the building I will talk to him."

Acknowledging that with a nod she decided that she would have get back inside so that Rolo did not come to investigate and do something extreme like smear Milly's brains across the hallway wall, she smiled at Milly, "Then let me go tell Nunnally and Rolo that we will be having a talk about something and that I will be checking up on them occasionally. You know kids these days. You never know what those two might have gotten into, I would hate to tarry and walk in on a full out game of Doctor."

She noted a strained smile on Milly's face as she stepped back inside of the Lamperouge wing and thought the joke had done it's job. She briefly thought of sending Lelouch a message, before thinking better of it. This was something she wanted to see his true reaction to. She might have felt his resolve to want to change and truly be a better man, but this would be able to show if he could follow through on that resolve. Would he talk to the girl or instantly Geass her, it would be a very telling response to the situation. As she pushed open the door to the children she was slightly disappointed that they were both still clothed.


	12. Where do you stand?

Ok. First I know this has been a long wait and I apologize. No this story is not dead but there will be times I don't update for awhile I apologize, for as you know cause sometimes life enjoys making things difficult...

Well I hope everyone enjoys the chapter.

Remember I own nothing within the Code Geass Universe.

Chapter 11: Where Do You Stand?

Ohgi looked at Kallen next to him, ignoring Zero as he was asking Inoue about the preliminary report of what they had taken from the arms dealer's storehouse while they waited for Sugiyama and Minami to return, and took in how small she seemed right now. She had not said much since they had found her puking her guts out in the warehouse. In all honesty he had been spending the last few minutes trying to come up with a way to get Kallen excused from the meeting. He knew she would be furious with him when she was back to normal but right now…

He caught Tsukiko's eyes across the table and motioned towards Kallen ever so slightly. She clearly got his intended message as she spoke up instantly despite how he wanted to approach this carefully, "Zero, I don't wish to interrupt but I feel it might be best if Miss Kozuki is-"

To his surprise however Zero cut her off before she could finish as if he had been expecting her to say something, "Very well. I had intended to wait until later to bring it up so everyone would be present but if you and Ohgi wish to address Kallen's current condition now so be it."

He felt his cheeks heat up a bit; both from being caught as well as annoyance that Zero had noticed what was happening with Kallen but didn't say anything himself, let alone that the man wanted to wait until everyone was present.

However before he could say anything Kallen spoke up, though her voice was low and distinctly brittle, "I'm fine."

Zero seemed to study her for a long moment before speaking again, "If that is all you have to say on the subject.." He trailed off and waited a moment as if expecting Kallen to speak before shaking his head, "Well then if that is your position so be it. Ohgi, Kallen is to be removed from active combat until further notice, she can help in other ways but she is not allowed to fight."

His shock from Zero's response and annoyance on that being all Zero was going to do was reflected in both Tsukiko and Inoue's faces, but he seemed to have truly struck a chord with Kallen. "All I did was puke. It… It was just a little messy and I'm fine now. It won't happen again."

As annoyed as he was, Ohgi found himself relaxing back into his seat a little. He had not considered how well Zero seemed to be at reading how people react to things. It might not be how he wanted to address the situation but Kallen was always a hit first and think about it later kind of child so maybe this would be a better way for her to deal with things, a sort of forced confrontation. Then Zero sighed.

"While your reaction to what happened was unwelcome it was also expected after what happened, while you have been fighting it would not be considered the norm in modern warfare to see what happened to that woman, much less with you having caused it, as you're more used to destroying vehicle containing people rather than the person themself. That however has nothing to do with why I am removing you from active duty. No, it was your actions leading up to that point, more precisely everything after you entered the warehouse that is the cause of the problem. Do you know why?"

He slammed his hands on the table getting Kallen to slightly jump in place as he growled, "You said if they were in danger that she was to kill. You can't just hold that against her now."

Tsukiko nodded her head, "Ohgi has a point. It would greatly undermine the ability of people to believe you if you really get mad at her for that."

Zero however didn't even turn to acknowledge them, he just continued staring intently at Kallen and while they could not see his face behind the mask he was sure that Zero was scowling in annoyance. He went to say something else but Kallen spoke first in a raised bitter voice, "I froze ok. When I saw she was Japanese I froze. It was stupid and I should have reacted faster. Is that what you wanted to hear?"

"Why?"

"Because she was Japanese!"

"Does that mean you will freeze if you are faced with the unarmed Honorary Britannian units that Britannia uses as fodder against the JLF?"

He was struck by how level and calm Zero was in comparison to how angry Kallen was getting. "They're completely different! They're just trash that sold out to Britannia."

A trace of anger entered Zero's voice, "And yet I have to say I have more respect for them than that woman you killed today."

He grabbed Kallen's shoulder to keep her from jumping up, not that he was much better when he demanded, "What do you mean by that?"

Zero turned to look at him, "Honorary Britannians that join the military make next to no money, are treated like trash by every Britannian they encounter and are often beaten by the Britannians in their unit. There is no personal advantage for them joining the military. The few I have met all have done so swallowing their own pride in the faint hope that it will improve the lives of their fellow Japanese or at least their own families. Yes I agree they are going about it wrong and are incompetent fools. They are however trying to help people and do have the best interest of their people at heart. That woman earlier, she sold out her fellow Japanese to work for a Britannian criminal organization purely for her own self interest."

A heavy silence hung in the air as everyone tried to digest what was said. Zero however was not finished as he looked back at Kallen, "While you freezing is a problem, the bigger problem happened before that. You said nothing when you first saw the third guard and then proceeded to go deal with it yourself. Those kinds of actions don't just endanger you, they can put everyone in the operation at risk. As such I have no problem removing you if you refuse to acknowledge your mistakes."

As Kallen fidgeted under the dressing down he cut in, "You don't need to be so harsh."

"No. He's right." Kallen's voice was still quiet but it was far more steady than it had been earlier even when she had been yelling, "I.. If she had shot that missile, with all those explosives in that warehouse…"

Tsukiko had finally had enough, "This has nothing to do with what I was saying. She needs to talk to someone about what happened. That was horrific and she-"

"You can't make someone talk about something like this. She will go to Ohgi, or Inoue, or Minami or whoever it is she feels most comfortable with when she feels ready. It took me years before I talked about what I had seen during the invasion."

He wasn't paying attention to Tsukiko's reply or what Zero and her were saying about talking through things, rather he was mulling over what Zero had just said. While it might not be exactly the same phrase had heard many similar things said before by people he knew. None of them had been older then him though, he seemed to only hear such things from those his age or younger...

****G's G****

"I really wish you didn't follow me kid."

It took Phillip a minute to process what Diana said as soon as he breached the water near the shore, his eyes focused on the rifle barrel she had aimed directly at his head.

"What…"

She just stared at his inarticulate reply before continuing, "We have three choices now kid. You can die here alone or you can get back in that water and swim back to Britannia taking your chances with how they 'reward' your retreat, or you can flee and hide in some hole somewhere hoping Britannia never finds you again."

"Why?" He tried to make it sound not as desperate and confused as he felt but he knew he had not succeeded very well from the look of annoyance that spread across Diana's face.

"Because I'm sick of it. I've served for thirteen fucking years and watched as some fucking Princeling has spent the last four destroying the MAKOs purely because he didn't like how they are 'outside' of the normal Navy command system. Two years ago we have two hundred marines in our unit alone. Now the MAKOs don't even have that many personnel world wide. I'm sick of being used as fodder. I didn't sign up for this shit."

"I didn't sign up at all."

The words had slipped from his mouth before he had really thought about them, though they seemed to not faze Daina, "No shit kid. Everyone in the unit has seen your file and it includes your parent's reason for signing you up. Now get lost! The Chinese will only really have need of one turncoat, any more and they have the option of disposing of the extras, and I'm not taking any fucking chances."

Staring intently at her face, her expression of annoyance and anger set in stone, he couldn't help but ask " What about Jake and Steve?"

She snorted, "Knowing those two idiots they are already dead. Most likely from rushing in gun blazing, if not I'll turn over what they are likely to do as well as you to help cement my usefulness. So I advise you run while you still have time."

Taking one last look at her face and the gun he swallowed the lump in his throat and knew what he would have to do. He just hoped he had enough air to make it back across the bay.

****G's G****

Cornelia looked at Guilford and Darlton, the only two who were left after the mission debrief that had not gone the way she wanted it to, not that the _simple_ operation had gone that way either. Deciding to jump right in on something she noticed early on in the debriefing she addressed Darlton first, "Andrea's you were unusually quiet during the debriefing."

He took the time to choose his words before responding, a habit that even after all their years of working together he still did on occasion, granted only those situation when he was going to contradict her with no solid evidence to back up his point, but it still bothered her that he felt the need to choose his words in such a way. Along with annoying her as she could not think of what he could possible be about to point out.

"If I am to be blunt Princess, I disagree with your conclusion on the entire situation."

"Darlton!"

She held up her hand to stop Guilford from interrupting. She was well aware that she was a more naturally skilled commander than Darlton but his experience still made him a far more formidable opponent than most, "Please continue Darlton."

"Zero was not in our system when he was calling the G1, so unless he has worked on the bridge of a G1 base before he should have had no idea what those alarms meant during his call. So, despite how much it worries me, I believe that the trap was organized by some of Zero's men. We already know that that tunnel did not come to a dead end after the section that collapsed and we know at least those that we tried chasing most likely escaped."

Her eyes narrowed at Darlton admitting he was worried, "Yet in your assessment of Zero from the conversation you had with him you were rather adamant that he does care about his cause and his men. Such a strategy that sacrifices so many men does not match our assessment, especially for so little trade off."

"No princess it actually fits my assessment. He stated that he would not help those that gave up on living. If the members of the Blood of the Samurai decided to fight to the death rather than assist Zero they would not be 'his men'. They would however be a useful tool for Zero's men."

She noted Guilford slowly nodding and she had to admit that it would be a move right out of the Britannian officer's handbook to use your enemy's enemies as a distraction, but that was giving an eleven a lot of credit, "Don't you think you are overestimating this man's skills?"

With a shake of his head, "No Princess. If anything I have to say you are drastically underestimating him even with what I just said. Forgive me but you are so sure this man is nothing more than a simple terrorist with some showmanship skills that you are not thinking about what I said."

Now that direct of a contradiction was very unlike Darlton, "Oh?"

She noticed that her question came out much colder then she would normally use with her advisor. Darlton however seemed to just accept it and continued, "Princess you accept that the attack on the Purist base was orchestrated by Zero correct?"

She slowly nodded her head thinking she was now getting where Darlton was going with this, "Then that would make this the second time he has orchestrated a major operation that he was not present for. We had been approaching this as if Zero was an excellent field commander that is able to react well under pressure. This is different though, he is planning out traps and operations and then is not even present for these operations himself but is instead doing something else, leaving his men to carry out the plans he made, and they are working because he, or while more unlikely someone else on his side that can clearly predict our reactions. The possibility that there are two that are that skilled on their side is another worrying idea. Honestly Princess, if nothing else Zero seems to possess a level of skill we have only gone against when fighting the EU, and I must admit I find it disconcerting."

"I admit that you make good points Andreas and I myself am distrustful on the idea of coincidences I think you are being overdramatic."

She personally had to agree with Guilford, however Darlton had never been wrong since she had known him either…

"I don't entirely understand my thoughts exactly either but there is something from what we have seen and the conversation I had that has made me follow the line of thought I have had and I find myself convinced I am on the correct line of thought.."

She didn't really cover the snort at that very well, it was uncommon that Darlton followed a gut instinct, though it amused her at such great lengths he would go to never call it that, but still, "Then we are lucky he is so under equipped and poorly manned. Guilford do you have anything to add?"

Guilford looked deep in thought for a moment before speaking, "I think that Andreas brings up some good points. I think that it might be best if we change some of the plans you had for Saitama. At the very least we should bring an extra infantry company to guard the bridge we are using as our main entry point, as well as a larger airborne forces to cover the confirmation of our units locations. Zero's men if Andreas is correct have already proven themselves proficient in using explosives and it would be best to make sure they don't pull anything similar again if they they show. I also think we will need to look into any tunnels that are accessible from ground level."

She nodded her head in thought as she pulled up the plans she had been creating for the attack on Saitama, "That is where I planned to go next. Now to get Zero to show we need to…"

****G's G****

Lelouch let out a relieved sigh behind his mask now that the depressing air from earlier was starting to finally dissipate now that the others had arrived. Though at this point he had not called this meeting to order for a debriefing, instead he just observed everyone's actions.

Kallen was still rather forlorn looking and definitely more withdrawn than usual since the dressing down he had given her. He felt he had handled it well, but it was important that she learn the lesson of not jumping into combat like that. She had to remember that she was part of a team and that she can rely on those she fights with to support and assist her. He did NOT want her captured again like she had been by Le Xingke last time.

Oghi was sticking near her, but seemed to have calmed since earlier and had calmed even more once his friends had arrived.

Tsukiko on the other hand seemed annoyed, and once Sugiyama and Minami had arrived with Taichi she had gotten even worse. He had noticed her shooting Taichi a few disapproving glances as well. Though he dreaded the discussion he knew he would have to bring it up with her soon.

As for Taichi himself he seemed a rather calm and collected individual. He had proven himself more than competent and rather innovative while helping Sugiyama, and while he had not formally joined he hoped that he could cement his support by the end of the meeting.

Inoue and Sugiyama seemed fine but the other person to catch his attention was Minami. While the man was pleased to be back and was definitely proud of what they had accomplished there was a hint of some deep seeded hatred that had not been there when he had left yesterday. It was a development that would need to be watched.

"Sugiyama, Minami, Taichi, be seated. There is something I wish to institute starting now. I know that those of you from Shinjuku are not used to this process, same with your group Tsukiko. Taichi I am not aware if the Blood of the Samurai performed debriefings after operations…"

He trailed off looking at the other man for a moment to wait for a confirmation, but seeing the other's confused expression he sighed, "Is anyone present, other than Sugiyama, aware of what a debriefing is or why it is useful?"

When he was again met with silence he motioned for Sugiyama to explain.

"It's when you go over what happened during an operation and try and find out what you did right and what could be done better."

He smiled behind his mask, "Correct."

Noting the nods of understanding from around the table he continued, "I want to start with those that assisted in the evacuation of the Blood of the Samurai, yourself as well Taichi Yagami. What went wrong, and do not exclude something no matter how obvious."

He had barely finished before Taichi bit out, "Some idiots decided to make themselves martyrs rather than look for Japan's best interest."

That was certainly one way to put it, "That is true. Before we get to the next point, does anyone have any idea how to make sure that does not happen again."

There was only silence at his question, although when he was about to say something profound he was surprised that Minami spoke up, " _You_ could go and persuade them."

It was only the odd emphasis that he put on the word 'you' that made him realized what Minami meant, and he could tell by the faces present the only other person that reached the same conclusion was Sugiyama.

"Not likely. Those idiots would probably have just shot him if Zero had actually shown up. No offense."

While Taichi interrupted he noticed that Sugiyama elbowed Minami and said something to him in a hushed voice. It however posed a problem he had not foreseen when he revealed his geass. He had not thought that their disgust would eventually give way to willingness to use his geass as a weapon, especially not against other Japanese.

Everyone was looking at him now though, so it was best to give a slight warning while being honest, "There is no good way to control others to make them do what you want. It is a tactic that can be used well if planned out and you make sure you account for every action that they can take. However, it can not be used against those you plan to make that person into a permanent ally."

He noted that Minami looked chastised and annoyed before asking, "Is there anything else?"

Sugiyama nodded, "Yeah, we thought based on your intel that there would not be that many knightmares, and while objectively I would admit that twenty four is not many for a battle intel while correct objectively was vague. It also caused a problem as we only planned for less than ten knightmares to be present."

"That is true and it's unfortunate that I underestimated how many the Princess would bring with her based on what information I had received, however that is about as specific as I can get for advanced information at present. That being said I will say you all performed exemplary in the face of unexpected odds. The only thing I can say about fixing that is that we start over planning what our estimated enemy forces are. While this can cause it's own problems it would be far less risky for our men. Are there any other suggestions?"

"I know I have no idea myself how they actually worked, but you probably should not bring equipment on operations if you don't know how to use it."

His eyes flitted from Taichi to Sugiyama after the younger man stopped talking, "What did you bring that you did not know how to use?"

There was a slight flinch as Sugiyama replied, "I grabbed all the triggers and explosives I thought we would need and it was only about halfway there that I realized that some of the triggers I brought were not what I thought and were a lot more complicated than anything we had ever used before. We got them working in the end, but it was more of us making guesses based on what we knew."

"That's something we will have to work on. I have an idea but are there any suggestions on how to deal with this?"

He knew what he was going to do about it even as he asked, he was however surprised when Ohgi said almost exactly what he had planned, "Would it be a good idea to have people learn specific jobs? I know last time you explained that it would be best to get people in areas that they already knew what to do, but we do have a good number of people that don't really have any skills that are of any real help while fighting and it would be helpful in the longrun to have people specifically for things like explosives, that way they know how to do things safely."

Ohgi might have said it much like a question but it was exactly what he wanted his main people to be able to think up so he answered with a light chuckle, "Yes Oghi, that is exactly what I was looking for. We will need to plan out how to obtain the information we need for this training but I have a vague plan I was working on for that. I will bring it when I return and we begin planning our next step."

They were definitely intrigued by that but no one seemed to have anything particular to say after that announcement. "Well then if you three have nothing more to add we will now look at our raid, is there anything we should address there?"

He had decided that wouldn't bring up Kallen again, that had already been discussed and unless she herself brought it up he would let it lie for now, but there had been one other thing he had noticed that he wanted to bring up if no one else did.

Tsukiko spoke up first, "When we actually entered the storehouse it was chaotic and mostly a mad grab for anything one could find. It took a few minutes for me to get things organized and people on task as by then we had had our hiccup which took Oghi away from directing people. It was an example of people not used to following orders, fascination at what they were finding and in a few cases what I could only call direct disobedience. The first two can be fixed with experience, it's the third one that I find the most troubling."

He nodded slowly not having heard anything about this on the radio but knowing it was very possible. "I agree. I personally have an idea of what I would like to do here and I will open up the discussion for everyone present to weigh in on it. I would like to see a punitive review council put in place with both those that work as group leaders and other members switching out to review cases of insubordination and decide on a punishment between them."

"It sounds like you are planning to build an army?"

It was Inoue that replied to Taichi's comment, "It will take an army to destroy the army of Britannia, so yes that is the plan. I agree that some measures must be taken when people directly disobey commands, but what would we do when it ends up being for the best that they disobeyed?"

"That's the point of it being a council Inoue. I saw more than one review board when I was on the Police force and once there was a case of insubordination where it was decided that the actions of the subordinate, while against direct orders, were what should have been done. Having a group review shows we want people to do what they are told but we realize that sometimes there are situations where people might notice something there superior did not and not have time to relay it before they have to act."

He motioned to Sugiyama, "Is there anyone that disagrees with this plan?"

When no one disagreed though he noted that Ohgi was biting his tongue and Taichi seemed to be deep in thought at the proposal he continued, "Tsukiko I understand this might not be something you have experience with but would you draft a system we could implement for rotations, as well as rules for the closeness of the person being reviewed and the reviews?"

After her affirmation he waited for anything else and after noting a small shake of the head of Kallen he decided to address what he had noticed, "There was one thing I noticed that I feel needs to be addressed. When you left the storehouse the vehicles were packed to the brim and people were carrying equipment as well. However, while it would only have taken three or so Knightmares to work as guards on the way back we had all eight doing so. The other half could have easly been carrying pallets of equipment or other loads. While yes it's not a horrible loss, next time it would be better to try and get everything we can."

Noticing the nods, "Is there anything else anyone wants to bring up?"

Minami spoke up for the first time since his early cryptic endorsement of Geass use, "No, but I have something else that needs to be addressed. Both myself and Sugiyama had reservations about allowing children to fight, and I know many in this room do as well. I know it's slightly hypocritical as we have had Kallen piloting a Knightmare since she was sixteen, no matter how skilled she was a child at that point. During the evacuation we had one girl, her name was Yolie, and she had been still in the base as she was not present when Taichi first left. She refused to leave despite being told many times to as she was only fifteen. She was with us when the Knightmare stormed the base and stayed with us until we reached the tunnels. While all of us were fleeing for our lives from some new Knightmare we would never outrun, she turned around and with one our three rockets scored a hit that took out the Knightmares gun and damaged the unit at the cost of her own life. It was one of the bravest things I have ever seen anyone do during this whole war, and it changed my opinion on something."

Minami took a deep breath and he could barely make out tears in the corners of the man's eyes before he started speaking again meeting the eyes of everyone else at the table, "You have said before that Japan has changed, talking about Britannians that have only ever known life here, and how some both Japanese and Britannian remember times when they were friends with the other. This girl had no idea what Japan was like, yet she had a fighting spirit the likes of which I only have seen in Kallen herself. So I know it is not what the point of this debrief is about, and as much as I dislike it myself, I think we need to stop stopping people in their older teens from fighting. I think… I think it's a disservice to-" Minami was cut off as Tsukiko loudly interrupted him.

He pursed his lips. This is exactly what he felt the need to bring up with Tsukiko, however this is the exact opposite of how he wanted to bring it up and he could already see the divides in the people before him, and just like that he knew that he was not going to have time to interrogate the prisoners upstairs tonight, even if the Britannian Pilot did wake up, if he wanted to make it home before morning.

****G's G****

Kaguya shot Tatsunari Osakabe a withering glare, "Is your pocket book all you care about? There are at least two hundred Japanese that fought for our freedom dead now, one of the largest groups of Japanese fighting gone in less than an hour and-"

"I am well aware of what that means, and it only reinforces my stance. We waste too much funding on these small groups, and what do we see for our returns? A hand full of Britannian Knightmares destroyed in exchange for hundred of thousands pounds of equipment as well as two hundred good men. We need to start focusing on what is important and that means consolidating our forces so they can be the most effective. So I again propose that we cease funding to any group except for the JLF."

Oh how she wished he could surprise them by saying anything else, the man had been pushing for exclusively funding the JLF for the last four years and sadly his argument was starting to gain some hold with the others present. Until their private meeting earlier this week she would have said even Sensei Kirihara was starting to agree with him but now she was not so certain...

It was not a shock but still unexpected when it was Sensei Kirihara that replied, "While I agree that many of the smaller groups we fund perform nothing in the end and are unneeded drains on our resources that you talk of. However you also talk of returns from our funding, and as much as it hurts me to admit this, what returns have we gained from the JLF in the last seven years?"

She felt a small thrill of victory pass through her at the rest of Kyoto House's shock, "I personally agree with-"

*Bang*

All of them turned as one as the door to their conference room slammed open, the guard that entered looked apprehensive at his intrusion but she could see he definitely looked pleased at something as well.

"Honored members of Kyoto House we have received an urgent report from a surviving counsel member of the Blood of the Samurai, Taichi Yagami."

"But initial reports said that the council and the entire faction was wiped out to the last man."

She shot an annoyed look at Hidenobu Kubouin. This was great news, and while she knew not to get her hopes up too much he shouldn't be so disappointed sounding at what they were just told.

"Honored members, we have authenticated the report from Mr. Yagami and every check was a match to the code and keyword phrases we had given him. He went on to report that almost half of the group escaped from the destruction of the Blood of the Samurai due to the quick action of Zero and the resistance group in Shinjuku."

Tatsunari bit out, "So they ran away then?"

"He called it a tactical retreat honored members, he went on to say that they managed to evacuate most of the supplies through the tunnels, which when the Britannians followed them they brought the tunnels down on the Britannians destroying a squad of Sutherlands. He also wished to inform you that he will be personally meeting with Zero soon and that he will be sending you a report on Zero's character and goals as soon as he is able."

She steadfastly ignored Master Kirihara trying to catch her eye, she would make her own opinion on if Zero was Lelouch in her own time. While she would like it to be Lelouch… Well time would tell.

****G's G****

Annabeth put down the report she had been handed. This news was both bad for her army and in it's own way good for her.

While it was not altogether unexpected the fall of Baghdad had not toppled resistance in the area like first predicted by her staff. While the MEF soldier to the north of Baghdad had been left without centralized leadership they had quickly rallied into different groups. For the most part these groups were no threat and she had already mopped up a few units in the last week there was however one group that was going to pose a problem situated somewhere along the mediterranean coast.

The Guards of Saladin was not fighting like a military unit, nor had they retreated into the hills and started attacking from a 'secret' base like so many other resistance groups here had. They seemed to magically appear attacking the Britannian forces then disappear without leaving a trace. The most annoying part is that they did not use any Knightmares or heavy vehicles, leaving them with no tracks to follow.

Now while her staff was convinced they should be looking for another secret base she was convinced that there was something much more simple going on.

Her thoughts on what needed to be done going forward were simple as well, If she eliminated these terrorist she will have accomplished something that even the 'brightest' generals available could not. With that and establishing Area 18 she would have…

Now was not the time for such thoughts. She would plan what she would say to her half sister after she had accomplished her goals, now though she had an enemy to find.

****G's G****

Milly shook her head to clear the sleep from her mind as she stared hard at Lelouch trying to drink in every detail to note if there was anything to give away what she already knew. She had stopped him in the hall just outside of his and Nunnally's home, and she could see he was as tired as she felt. Hell C.C. had gone to bed almost three hours ago when it had reached midnight, despite the interesting conversations they had been having.

Lelouch just gave her one of his newly common relaxed smiles while the need for sleep clearly pulled at his face, "Did you need something Milly?"

Slowly nodding, "Yes, but I think we should discuss this in the student council meeting room."

It was the most secure place on campus that she knew of, as while she had made sure every entrance was closely watched by cameras there was not a single camera within the room or the large adjoining closets contained within.

She knew she never made requests like this, but Lelouch just shrugged as he started to follow her towards the room, a sign of how tired he clearly was.

They walked the short distance in complete silence, and while it did not seem to bother Lelouch she felt the silence was squeezing the life out of her with the amount of tension it caused.

Walking into the student council room she turned and saw Lelouch standing there expectantly and in her mind she could see them all, all of the facets that she knew made up her closest friend. On one side she could see him dressed in all the finery of a Prince full of anger as an indescribable rage burned behind his eyes, on another she could see Zero, his mask a wall that blocked off any idea what emotions he was feeling, and her longtime friend Lulu lazily sitting at the large table in the middle of the room with a sardonic smirk plastered on his face. In that moment for the first time all day she realized that this was going to change everything between them, there would be no going back to her being a good friend who's family had looked after him and Nunnally. Worse, she knew that no matter how this went she could never tell anyone what she knew, she could never hurt Nunnally and Lelouch like that, she would be a traitor, a criminal, an accomplice of a terrorist. If he was ever caught they would hunt down her and her family for no reason other then they sheltered him.

Her mouth seemed to have stopped working as her mind tried to make some kind of sense of everything that was happening to her. She barely noticed Lelouch move to her as she felt a hand on her shoulder, giving it a comforting squeeze. Before Lelouch could speak though she pushed his arm away and tried to demand, even if her voice came out scratchy, "How? How could you do it? How could you kill your brother Clovis and all those soldiers? How could you attack you sister?"

Too many emotions to keep track of flashed across Lelouch's face, sadness, fear, worry, anger before they finally settled into a regretful expression. She couldn't help it when she didn't fully believe it, he wore so many masks, how could she know that he was truly regretful or that anything that he showed was real.

When he finally spoke it was quiet and there was a touch of fear, "I am doing what needs to be done."

That was all the confirmation that she really needed. While she had been convinced she had held out hope that she was wrong, that none of it was true. However, her best friend, the boy she considered her brother had attacked their country, massacred soldiers, killed his own brother. She stumbled towards the table to support herself.

"What needs to be done?" her voice barely a whisper. Her mind was whirling, who needed it to be done, why did he have to do it, how could this be happening, and the last thought that kept cropping up the one that felt like poison to her soul, is this what your pride means to you Lelouch.

Her quiet question had clearly been heard however, "Yes. Britannia is growing more corrupt and even more bigoted with each passing day. When I was younger I could never see it both due to age as well as the curse of being born into Royalty, but now I can see what has become of the once great Empire that existed long before I was born. It's diseased, corrupt, rotten from the head down. It needs to be gutted, the system it now represents destroyed and then it can be fixed and all the people within it's boundaries might be treated as the human being they are."

Lelouch's voice has started at the same level as before but by the end he had been talking with a determination she so wanted to believe was real. That he truly wanted to make things better for everyone, but unbidden words resonated in her ears from a New Years long ago 'One day Father. One day I will make you pay for your beliefs, and what they did to Nunnally.'

She steeled herself as she tried to come up with what to say, she had planned to confront him but had not thought of anything after that. Now she was desperately clutching at straws and the only thing she could think of to get Lelouch to not do this was to convince him to stop. She had to show him he was going too far somehow, because no matter how noble his goals they were not worth losing him over.

"But your brother-"

"He was no brother of mine."

She was taken aback by the anger that laced Lelouch's tone as he interrupted her. His face was contorted a mix of sadness and rage, "Whatever he was when I was younger he was not anymore. That kind older brother that liked to paint and joyfully lost tickle wars with Nunnally was long gone, and all that was left was another monster that cared only about themselves just like so many others spawned by that Demon."

Lelouch's voice cracked at the end and for the first time this entire conversation she was sure this was no mask, no lies, purely the truth.

His eyes found hers and she saw a slight dampness in his violet orbs as he angrily condemned his brother, "I saw them again in Shinjuku. I had nope to never see them again after what happened seven years ago. That was something that was never should have happened then and should not still be happening now because it happened in Shinjuku and NO ONE CARED. No one said anything, then… Then it has happened more often than we know. There should NEVER be the broken bodies of CHILDREN cast aside on the side of the street alongside the shells of the bullets that tore them apart."

She could feel her mouth moving but no sound was coming out of it. His voice hardened, "That is why Clovis had to die. That is why I have to fight. This needs to change. The world needs to change."

"But why you?"

The words had escaped her before she even realized she had thought them let alone said them aloud.

Lelouch seemed confused for a moment, "Because it needs to be changed, surely you understand th-"

Her question though had broken the dam she had built over her own emotions without even knowing it. Her worry about Lelouch being Zero came spilling out demanding answers, "How could you do it? How could you do it? HOW COULD YOUR RISK LEAVING US? HOW COULD YOU RISK DYING ON NUNNALLY? ON C.C.? ON ME?"

She only partially aware that about halfway through she had started yelling, her head bent forward and her hair covered her face as tears formed in her eyes. The only sound after her outburst was her ragged breathing echoing off the walls as she shook on unsteady legs.

She heard the regret when Lelouch finally spoke, his voice from right in front of her as he had closed the distance between them in her despair, "One life versus one hundred or more… How can I say that it was worth killing Clovis because killing him saved hundreds. If I am not willing to risk my own life to save even more-"

"NO! No stupid chess philosophy! No 'if the King doesn't lead how can he expect his subordinates to follow'! I don't care about them, any of them! I just don't want you to go! You're my best friend Lelouch. I've known you for seven years, and you have always been there for me while my parents never were. You're… You and Nunnally are not just people my family looks after, you are family to me. I can't lose you…"

Her voice trailed off at the end, barely above a whisper as her ragged breaths turned into full blown sobs.

Suddenly she was pulled off balance as Lelouch wrapped his arms around her and she collapsed her head onto his shoulder as she cried. There was a warmth and security in his embrace that she had only ever experienced when her grandfather hugged her and though she relaxed ever so slightly into Lelouch she could not stop the falling of her tears.

Lelouch's started rubbing circles on her back as he spoke in the same gentle voice he seemed to reserve for Nunnally, "It's ok Milly. It's ok. I'm not going anywhere."

"I always appreciated everything you and your family did for us by taking Nunnally and me in, and all the more you do for us as time goes on. However, you were never just people that were helping us, Rueben and you made this home for us. This was something me and Nunnally never thought we would have after we were made to leave Ares Villa."

He slowly cupped her chin and lifted her head so she was looking him in the eyes, and she was surprised to see a little sparkle of mirth there, "I hope you're ok though that I won't call you sister. I have a few too many of those already. So many more then I could ever need; I have not even met many of them."

Whacking his shoulder she demanded, "This is not the time for making jokes Lelouch."

He smiled that relaxed smile she was starting to find annoying, "But that's where you're wrong. I want to change things so that everyone can enjoy their life. Especially for those I care about most of all."

As he smiled at her she idly wondered why he never asked her not to tell anyone.

****G's G****

C.C. looked up from computer screen she had been watching as Lelouch entered their room noting that Milly was still fast asleep on the couch behind the locked Council room door, "How did that go OH great and mysterious Zero?"

Shooting her a glare he grunted, "You could have warned me."

With a flippant smirk she rejoined, "But what fun would that have been?"

She smiled as he rolled his eyes in exasperation, "I did learn something from talking to Milly though."

Her eyebrows rose in confusion, she had been watching and while Milly and him had talked, Lelouch had not mentioned having Milly joining him or anything else that he did not already know.

"Are you familiar with the original meaning of the phrase 'blood is thicker than water' rather than the meaning of the phrase currently used?"

Shooting his an withering glare, "One should never mention a lady's age Lelouch, it could end poorly for that foolish man."

He arched a brow in that annoyingly superior way of his, "Is that a yes then?"

"Yes boy. I know what the original meaning behind the phrase is, and I remember when it started to become a commonplace saying in English the first time."

Lelouch however ignored her, "The original meaning is closer to the truth I think. It's true there is a connection within those that share the same blood that forms with being part of the same family and it is suppose to be difficult to sever. However, that's what makes the other connections all the more important."

Turning towards her he continued in a quiet voice, "Because no matter how thick the blood people share might be, the connections without it can run so much deeper, honestly just like water. It does not matter if those connections are formed by love or friendship, there has to be more meaning to them. Your family you are automatically a part of, and while it can become deep and meaningful it does not always happen. While I am immensely close to Nunnally and was close to Euphie, Cornelia, Schneizel and Clovis, there are half siblings of mine that are near my age I never even met. Whereas for friends and…" His eyes darted to hers and then out the window as he turned pink, "lovers there has to be a deep connection for them to matter. They are not just there, they have to be formed with time and dedicated effort."

She had managed to hide the blush that wanted to form at his reaction to saying lovers, so as he turned to look at her expectantly she plastered on a blank face, "Well I think calling us Lovers would be a bit premature but if you are up for forming a deep and stimulating connection I must say I am all for it."

She barely managed to fight back her giggles at his reaction and found herself desperately wishing for a camera. This would be the ultimate picture to show Milly and Nunnally at their little tea time this week.


	13. The Next Step

Well this chapter did not end up anything like I had originally outlined it as...

Before I begin there is one thing I want to bring up. I have had a few people comment on the combat prediction software that Lelouch had the Four Holy Swords use against Suzaku and how that should be used more. I agree and disagree. . Ok While I will be using it, it will only be used when appropriate. Notice they never seemed to use the software any other time. I think that might be because it was only effective when facing a single opponent. Trying to use it when more than one person is present would cause problems with predicting moves or attacks as the number of variables become much harder to predict. At least that's how I see it.

Lastly, I own nothing in the Code Geass Universe.

Chapter 12: The Next Step

C.C. smirked down at Milly's still sleeping form. She had, rather uncharacteristically she thought, gotten up earlier then Lelouch this morning and spoke briefly to Sayoko about breakfast arrangements before making her way to the student council room armed with Lelouch's personal key and a mischievous grin. She knew after he missed saying goodnight to Nunnally for two days straight Lelouch now wanted to have a 'family' breakfast this morning and she had decided last night that she should bring Milly along if the poor girl still had not left the couch she had collapsed on last night.

Gently shaking the blonde C.C. said, "Time to get up Milly. Sayoko is setting you a place for breakfast this morning, and after that tearful heart to heart you and Lelouch had last night you just can't miss a family breakfast now can you."

It was only the small jerk before her body went unnaturally still that gave away that Milly was awake.

"You knew from the beginning."

It wasn't a question though she answered anyway, "Yes, I have, the same as Sayoko and Rolo."

"Nunnally doesn't though?"

"No she does not, despite my pushing that he should tell her now before she finds out in some other way."

Milly's eyes snapped open and she sat up, "I will join you, but I can't stay long. I need to think about everything. I won't say anything to anyone but I need to think about what I..."

She eyed the younger girl, understanding the hesitation for what it was, "Come. It will help settle your thoughts."

Milly took her hand but she could easily see that the young blonde was bursting to say something. Well, she would have to keep an eye on Rolo, but hopefully this would help the girl deal with her internal dilemma as well as help Lelouch see that he could tell his problems to the people he was close to…

****G's G****

With a sigh Kallen slowly stumbled towards the shower to start getting ready for the day. She had made it home last night safely…. somehow. She had been in a stupor ever since the meeting and could feel inside herself a blur of emotions; rage, guilt, confusion…

She leaned into the embrace of the hot water running over her skin wishing it could wash away what she had done yesterday. Everything had been so much easier before then. The war had been black and white, you were either Britannian or Japanese and that was that, but now it was anything but. With Zero and all of the new people now with them it was really becoming a war and she realized that the sides were not what she had thought they were. It might have only been one person but she knew that there would be more who had sold out their country for personal gain.

That train of thought brought up what Zero had said at the meeting, about how the Honorary Britannians while misguided were trying to help in their own way. It was a hard pill to swallow, to accept that people she had always just thought of as weak were actually trying in their own way to make the lives of the people of Japan better. Accept it she would though, as Zero had not lead them wrong yet and after the meeting yesterday…

Ohgi and Tsukiko had acted like she needed to be protected and treated like… like a child. Zero had pointed out her mistake and reprimanded her for them, but at no point did he talk down to her. He treated her like a peer, like she was a valuable team player and no one in the resistance group had ever done that before. He had even defended her and Taichi when Tsukiko had argued that they needed to get rid of anyone under an appropriate age as only adults should be fighting.

Rinsing the suds out of her red hair she stepped out of the shower and prepared to head back to the warehouse. It was time she proved to Zero that she could do better and started living up to the expectations he seemed to have of her. There was no longer time for her to be a child.

****G's G****

Rolo had made sure to organize all of his thoughts from yesterday after his talk with C.C. when he spent time with Nunnally as they listened to music and she folded paper into stupid shapes. Now though with breakfast wrapped up he could finally talk to Big brother like C.C. said he should. Though he would have to ask about Miss Ashford being around this morning; first she had spent the evening with C.C. and now she was here this morning, still wearing the same clothes he saw her in the previous night… It was odd and he didn't like it.

She had just left and with Lady Sayoko and C.C. having a conversation about something that was making C.C. laugh over to the side it was now the best time for him to have his private conversation with Big Brother. Besides he could do this, he could fight, he had killed more than one could ever count, so this one conversation should not be bothering him so much.

"Big Brother I need… That is to say I wanted to talk to you about something."

Big Brother smiled gently at him, "Well you don't need to be so bashful about it."

He wrung his hand as he realized that Big Brother didn't realize how sensitive the topic he wanted to talk about was, "It's kind of private…"

A look of understanding flashed across Big Brother's face, "Ahhh. Well then just a minute. I'll be back soon Nunnally. I haven't been able to spend as much time as usual with you and I want to spend some time later making origami with you before I have to leave."

He tried to not let the jealousy show as Big Brother kissed Nunnally's brow as she chirped, "Ok Big Brother, I'll make sure that the paper is out so I can show you what to do."

He did notice that the smile was forced and he could not really read the look in her eyes but it was anything but happy. Putting that aside for now though he had much more pressing issues to talk about.

Big Brother followed him to his room where he turned and went to speak but the words he wanted to say died on his lips, and with Big Brother looking at him expectantly he blurted out, "Why don't you trust me anymore?"

Confusion ran across Big Brother's face, "Why do you think that?"

"You won't let me help with the Black Knights anymore."

He barely noted the relief that spread across Big Brother's face as Big Brother reached out grabbing his shoulder, "Rolo, while that's true right now I in no way have lost any trust in you. Right now is not a good time for you to be working with the Black Knights as they don't trust Britannians yet, there are now problems with some not agreeing on younger people being involved and I need to train them. They aren't the group you remember, right now they can barely bumble through the assignments I help them create, and I can't have you finishing the jobs before they can even learn what they need to do."

"But you have been treating me like a child."

Big brother reared back momentarily as if struck by that comment, before shaking his head ever so slightly, "I guess in some ways I have, but Rolo you are a child. An extremely well trained and resourceful one, but you are still a child and I have been trying to give you time to enjoy that to make real memories rather than the fake ones from last time.."

Before he could interject big brother continued, "That does not mean that I in any way think that you are incompetent, or that I do not trust you Rolo. I…" Big brother breathed a heavy sigh before continuing, "It is difficult for me Rolo." Making to interrupt he stopped when big brother raised the hand on his shoulder to stop him, and he realized for the first time that maybe as much as these changes had been bothering him they might have been bothering big brother too. "I know you are more trained to fight than I am, but I'm trying to be a good big brother you know. I'm supposed to look out for my younger siblings and try to keep them safe. I failed last time and…"

Finally interrupting he blurted, "But you don't have to look after me I can take care of myself."

He almost wanted to apologize when he saw the look of hurt that passed across big brother's face and the pang in his chest that it caused. A pregnant pause fell between the two.

Lelouch finally broke the silence, "The only experience I have as an older sibling is Nunnally really. My own older sibling were never really around much except for Cornelia, Clovis and Odysseus. Of them both Cornelia and Odysseus spent most of their time looking after us, where as Clovis was a goof most of the time. I guess in the end I just respected them more than I ever did Clovis. I just… I need to look out for you in a way similar with how I look after Nunnally, or it feels like I'm not being a big brother to you."

He couldn't stop himself from blurting, "I'm not Nunnally. They may have made me take her place but I'm not her Lelouch."

There was no mistaking the frustration that flashed across Lelouch's face this time. So much so that when Lelouch reached out for him he flinched away unconsciously. This however was not enough to put distance between them as Lelouch grabbed his shoulder and pulled him forward into a tight hug.

Nothing was said for a moment before Lelouch spoke in a quiet voice, "You will never be just a replacement anymore Rolo. I thought you knew that."

He bit back saying that's what it felt like he was when Lelouch continued, "I have been so focused on treating you like I should have last time I never really thought about how it was only you acting. I wasn't thinking of you as you, only as you pretending to be Nunnally…"

He could hear something in Big Brother's voice as he spoke, something he had never heard from Big Brother before, but he could not identify the emotion it conveyed. Then Big Brother gave him a slight squeeze before abruptly pushing him away and looked at him intently. He would never have seen it if not for the early sunlight streaming through the window but there was distinct sparkle rolling down big brother's cheek. His breath caught in his throat as he realized how much this discussion actually bothered Big Brother.

"I guess now is the perfect time to start treating you like yourself Rolo. There will still be rules for your safety in place that you are required to follow. If you do not then you will not be allowed to continue doing this understood. That aside I do have an idea that you can help me with soon; it can be just the two of us."

He nodded his head rather rapidly in agreement.

****G's G****

Euphie set the bag she had been carrying down as she looked around the room she would be living in as Sub Viceroy at the consulate. It was not as large as her room back in Pendragon but was much more lavish than what she was used to. While she by no means kept her room back in Pendragon as spartan as her older sister, there was far too much here.

Everything was encrusted in gold and gems, and the amount of silks both on the bed and hanging around…

Her mind trailed off as she stared at all of the excess that had been set up in this room, and she couldn't help but wonder who set this up. Who thought that this is what she would want. She quickly slapped a hand to her mouth to cover the giggles that bubbled up at the thought of what might have happened if her sister had walked into a room like this when she arrived. She would have to ask Guilford what Cornelia's room looked like.

There went her good mood. She was not pleased that Guilford had been assigned to watch her. He barely gave her a moment to herself and having to watch over her always put him in a stuffy mood, which meant that he wouldn't get any of the humor in her question, just sputter useless denials about how he didn't know what her sister's room looked like.

****G's G****

Trying to massage the exhaustion away as he rubbed his temples Ohgi was close to just letting his head fall onto the meeting table.

He had been one of the people up all night organizing everything; getting inventories of what supplies they took, figuring out where the new supplies went, finding places for the displaced members of the now Defunct Blood of the Samurai and most importantly dealing with their three prisoners. A job that he hoped Zero would take over when he arrived.

Out of the other four presently waiting for Zero Inoue and Sugiyama had stayed with him to help. They made an agreement last night that the three of them would take charge over the night while Minami, Tsukiko and Taichi would take over when morning came. So both of them looked just as exhausted as he felt.

Currently Minami and Taichi were outside finishing up with finding permanent places for the people that had joined them from the Blood of the Samurai and getting final numbers of the new inventory.

Tsukiko however was with them right now waiting for Zero as he had requested. She however did not look any more pleased than she did yesterday when they had dispersed. She was adamantly against having 'children' fight in any way. He personally had to agree with Zero over Minami or Tsukiko, as he had taken a sort of middle ground. Children shouldn't fight at all, although they could be a part of the group trained in how to defend themselves or the base from attack, but they would be made to perform non-combatant work. There would be exceptions for special cases like Kallen who was skilled so high above average in combat that she could truly help them.

Which brought him to the fourth person here, Kallen. He had been extremely worried when she went home last night, going so far as to have Tamaki shadow her home. While this might not have been the brightest idea to some people, Tamaki had been good friends with Naoto too. Not as good as some of the others but he had taken it seriously and to their knowledge Kallen had no idea she was followed. Kallen however had showed up early this morning, before anyone else had arrived, and gotten straight to work. She clearly was not over what happened yesterday but there was a determination there that wasn't there previously.

That however bothered him for an entirely different set of reasons. The most prominent was she had not dealt with anything and was instead just burying everything, something that he was worried would come back to hurt her more than the events of yesterday had. The other main point, which he was not pleased to admit, was he was jealous. He had talked to her a few times this morning and she implied she was distinctly doing this as a way of making Zero realize she was capable. While he wanted to hate that she felt the need to prove herself, to hate Zero for setting some kind of standard he expected her to reach, mostly he hated that she wanted to impress Zero much like she had wanted to impress Naoto and despite how he had tried to care for her since Naoto's death she had never acted that way around him.

He shook those thoughts away as the door of the transport opened to reveal Zero with the same briefcase he normally carried.

Before anyone else could speak Zero addressed them, "I have already gotten a review of what happened since I left yesterday from Minami. Before we call in him and Taichi there are two things I want to do with those of you present. The Second I will be doing is interrogating the two prisoners we captured from the warehouse yesterday, which you will observe. Before that though there is an important discussion that needs to be had."

He looked askance at Zero at that and saw similar confusion of Inoue's face. It was the other three that bothered him. Kallen just looked like she would accept anything he said, Sugiyama looked more worried than confused, while Tsukiko just looked more angry than before.

"Are you kidding? You can't expect the girl to be present for something like that after yesterday."

He felt Kallen stiffen from across the table, "It would be easier to bring her to witness the interrogation then it would be to bring you, for the simple reason that I will be doing the interrogation. Which is what brings us to the question I have for you. Tsukiko do you still wish to work with us or not? I stand by my stance on using children to fight a war. I will not let children fight, but those old enough who can make and understand the decision themselves I will not stop."

As Tsukiko almost growled in response he saw out of the corner of his eyes what he could only call horrified confirmation in Sugiyama's eyes, "I talked to my people last night and we aren't leaving. Most agree with me but…"

He knew that look on her face and couldn't help but commiserate with the woman. Zero was much better at leading than either of them could and while she might not agree with him she knew that she could never do a tenth of what she could do alongside Zero compared to what she could do if she was not.

"Zero when you said you would be interrogating the prisoners did you mean you would be…"

He glanced at Sugiyama's uncomfortable face and back at Zero, "Yes Sugiyama I will be using my Geass. It is why I wished to confirm that Tsukiko would be staying even if we don't agree with everything. I wish for her to stay on in a leadership position and as such I need to be upfront with her. I would include Taichi as well but I will have to confirm that he can be trusted first."

He gulped and saw Inoue's eyes widen and Kallen get more focused at that reveal. Tsukiko however frowned in a more pronounced manner, "What do you mean by being upfront with me?"

"I have a power called Geass. It is a power that the Emperor both possesses and wishes to possess everyone capable of using it. Each person has it manifest differently, I can command anyone I make eye contact with to do any one thing I wish for them to do."

Tsukiko snorted at that before noting that none of them reacted the way she expected, "You can't be serious."

"I am completely serious and if you follow me to our prisoners upstairs I will show you. I wish for all of you to see what someone under the effects look like, I want you to understand what it does. Minami suggested yesterday that I should just geass people that did not agree with us like the council of The Blood of the Samurai. I want you to understand why I can not do that."

Zero started moving towards the stairs but stopped at the base and turned towards them, "You are all to stand behind me at all time."

He slowly pushed himself up and started to follow him up the stairs with everyone falling into step behind him. Kallen's voice cut through the silence, "How are you going to make eye contact without taking off your mask?"

"The panel of my eyes can slide to the side."

It was such a quick answer like he had been waiting for someone to ask it Ohgi chuckled, which Kallen elbowed him in the side for.

They followed Zero into the room with the prisoners, the one opposite to the room that was Zero's 'office' and he could see that the prisoners were still strapped to the chairs that he and Minami had tied them to this morning.

Zero motioned for them to move along the wall opposite the door and along the window side, while he moved forward towards the two men. He had to wonder if Zero's Geass could work off reflections.

Zero stopped once both of them were staring at him then reached up towards his mask, "You will obey my command."

He gulped as their eyes went red before saying, "Yes your majesty."

As Zero touched his mask again he slowly turned around and noticed that more than one person looking down or to the side. Zero only nodded, "This is the most inhumane of the commands I could give them. They are now nothing more than tools for me to use now. Yes I can come up with more subtle commands, ones where it only makes the person do one specific thing or where a special event needs to happen for it to trigger. However in the end it is all the same, for at least while under my command they are no longer human."

Zero turned back to the prisoners, "You are to write down every warehouse, hideout, and smuggling ring location that you know of. You are to write down the names of everyone you have ever worked for. You are to write down what buyers and sellers of illegal merchandise you know of. You are to write down any security measures all of these have in place. Then you will wait here for more instructions."

Zero placed piles of papers on the table they were seated at along with some pens before turning back to them, "We will head downstairs then you can ask any question you wish."

There was complete silence as they made their way back downstairs to the table.

"That's how you pulled off that stunt with the Purebloods."

Zero just nodded towards Tsukiko, "Yes it was."

"And those two upstairs are what? Their your slaves permanently now?"

"I felt it would be the best example as it is the most extreme. If you are worried about them, don't be. One is a consummate thug wanted in four Britannian Areas for working with the cartel. The other is ex-yakuza who was removed from the organization as he had a preference for young girls. Once they tell us all they know, I have a task for them that neither will walk away from."

"How could you know that?"

"I took their IDs yesterday. A search done by one of my lower level people in the consulate found their records with ease. Both have an apprehend on sight order."

He swallowed the lump in his throat, "Are your spies like that too?"

He was slightly surprised when Zero shook his head, "I said earlier that once I use my powers on someone they are little more than tools. Those in the Consulate that work for me do so out of their loyalty to me. I did not command them to follow my orders."

It was Kallen that spoke next, "When you met the Purebloods you stole their prisoner, Gotswald I think. Did you use your power on him?"

"No. There is something that he wants desperately and I am the only one that has a way to achieve it. I apologize if I am being unhelpful, but I can not go into more detail until I disclose who I am. That is something I intend to do soon but not yet. If there are no more questions please get Minami and Taichi as there are things that must be discussed."

After a moment of silence Sugiyama got up and headed for the door. Zero looked at Tsukiko, "Remember, there is to be no mention of what happened upstairs. Taichi is not to know about Geass until we confirm he is trustworthy. As of now he is loyal to Kyoto House over us and if they were to find this out from someone else we will never receive their backing."

He noted the grim nods all around at that, while Zero started passing out papers with diagrams on them.

****G's G****

It explained so much that had confused her recently. Lelouch wasn't just getting laid he was…

Honestly Milly did not know what to think at the moment. It was difficult to explain where she stood on everything, even more because even Lelouch had known that she would not say anything about his secret. It was rattling that he knew her so well, that he trusted her like that.

Even if she wanted to, what could she really do. She couldn't bring this to anyone without revealing who he was, and that would spell Lelouch's death, and Nunnally, poor Nunnally would be dragged off to Pendragon. Not to mention what would happen to C.C. and Rolo…

Yet that nagging voice in the back of her mind kept saying that if Lelouch was ever caught or ever defeated that would happen anyway, Britannia wouldn't stop till they had pried every secret from him no matter how they needed to achieve that. It was a chilling thought when everything that mattered could be taken away from you. Lelouch and Nunnally would be gone, she would lose everything her family still had and lose her her grandfather. Some of things he had done to keep Lelouch and Nunnally secret would cause him to be killed or at the least spend the rest of his life in prison.

It was a chilling thought, and a part of her hated that Lelouch had told her the truth, that he had confirmed her fears. If he had lied to her, if he had told her nothing everything would be just like normal. She couldn't tease him about the girl he was sleeping with without thinking about what else they might be doing. She couldn't have tea with her and Nunnally without worrying if she might say something she shouldn't. She couldn't plan the cultural festival Lelouch proposed without wondering what hidden motive Lelouch had with his idea. She couldn't help but be paranoid that the Honorary Britannian that would be joining the school tomorrow might be some part of one of Lelouch's plans.

She breathed out a sigh, she had wanted to know, and now she did. So what was she to do now. She couldn't just ignore everything. She couldn't turn Lelouch in. She couldn't fight. She…

She had always prided herself in being independent, in being a commanding woman that could accomplish anything and never know the meaning of defeat or indecision. Now though what was she to do. She needed to help Lelouch. He was her friend, her best friend, the closest thing she had to family after her grandfather. She had realized only this morning her whole world would fall apart because of what would happen if he was captured. She needed to do something but what could she do if Lelouch wouldn't listen to her...

****G's G****

Katase and the rest of the fools he had to work with were completely incompetent. None of them understood what this meant. Word had only just reached them from Kyoto that nearly half of the Blood of the Samurai group survived. They were hailing this as some kind of victory worth a celebration.

They were fools. Unable to understand any of the problems involving this and he didn't know which was worse; that they only managed to find out that there even was an attack an hour before Kyoto House's notice that almost half of the Blood of the Samurai had survived arrived, so their spies took almost a day to get them information on the attack, or that somehow this Zero managed to do the saving.

Standing up he walked out of the room. It was time for him to start finding people he could trust to do what was needed and start getting them introduced to the Hotel's layout. Maybe he could even get one of his men hired before the event…

****G's G****

Lelouch just wanted to leave now even if Sugiyama was off fetching Taichi and Minami to go over the next set of plans he had come up with. Today was just proving to be so very draining. First his discussion with Rolo; this had challenged everything he had thought about trying to treat Rolo as his younger brother. Then when he had returned to spend time with Nunnally she had been acting oddly distant until he left, which he would have to look into. Then explaining his Geass to Tsukiko as well as making slaves of the two prisoners upstairs, and while it had not been difficult and no one asked a lot of questions it just felt draining.

He still had one last important thing to do before he could leave though. Shooting a look at the papers he kept just for reference sake he managed a smirk behind his mask at the thought of his plans.

Looking around at everyone again to get his thoughts off waiting he noticed that everyone was doing the same thing they had been doing when Sugiyama left.

Tsukiko seemed to be adjusting well to what she learned. She did not seem pleased but on the flip side she was not freaking out or trying to kill him which was good. She also seemed a lot less angry than she did before which was definitely a plus.

Inoue and Ohgi seemed worried, or maybe perturbed was a better way of putting it. He could understand that while they knew about his powers and had seen it's effect they had not seen it used on anyone before, and he knew that both were aware what Minami had been saying yesterday, something it did not take a genius to figure out they had agreed with Minami's idea just a little bit before his demonstration.

Kallen however was another matter. She had been bothering him the entire time he had been here. While she seemed better off than yesterday, so much better that it bothered him in a way. He wanted her to be ok, and she was stronger than most, but she should not have bounced back that fast. It was worrying but he would have to deal with it later.

He looked up when the door opened and the three missing individuals joined them, "Good. Now that we are all here we can begin. There are papers on the table for everyone, those here already have their sets and for the rest of you there are sets at the empty seats."

Minami nodded as he made his way to the table. Taichi however moved slowly and deliberately to his seat before looking over the sheets, something he expected as he doubted Taichi was fully behind him yet.

"Now there are four sets of plans before you. Three are combat based. The last is something I am working on myself but feel that you should be made aware of so you can understand where I am going with it. I will give an overview of what each plan is, you may ask any question you feel pertinent, and then we will proceed to the next one. After we have gone over all four plans we will start going over how we will enact those plans."

He frowned when it was Taichi that interrupted first, "That sounds good, but before we continue why is Miss Kōzuki here? I understand she is an excellent Knightmare Pilot but you stated yesterday that you were removing her from active combat."

He saw Kallen move to say something so he raised a hand to stop her as he spoke, "You are correct, and she will not be taking part in any of these combat missions, though I hope to have her rejoining us soon. She is however pivotal to the non-combat task I am working on."

He noted everyone's eyes focus on him with varying levels of unease at that but decided to continue as he planned, "That will be covered after the rest are discussed as the rest have time constraints on when they need to be accomplished. Kallen's task will be an ongoing mission that will take a long time to come to fruition by my guess."

"Why Kallen?"

His eyes flitted to Taichi for a moment before looking at Ohgi as he answered the question, "Kallen is most uniquely fit to do this task out of everyone present. She is half Britannian from a well off family. There are places she can go and things she can do that no one else we have can. Yes I know you will hate this Kallen but it needs to be done."

Kallen looked somewhere between annoyed and determined, "I understand Zero."

"Good. Are there any more questions before we begin?"

Seeing no one step forward with a question he dove right in, "If you look at the first two sets of plans you will see blueprints much like the warehouse we just raided in Saitama. These are the layouts to two refrain operation sites in the Tokyo Area, one in Setagaya, and the other in Katsushika. The one in Katsushika is the more dangerous of the two being so close to the Tokyo Settlement, however it is also one of the refrain refining facilities which makes it more important to take out. The one in Setagaya is a distribution centre so there will likely be more than a few Japanese people present that are hooked on refrain. These will not be raids. This operation will be us freeing and gathering up any people addicted to refrain, killing those working as distributors and destroying the refrain itself. "

There was a mixture of looks around the table at that. Inoue looked rather uncertain when she spoke up, "I don't want to leave them but how are we going to deal with the people we rescue. We don't have the facilities to help them here."

He noted that Taichi looked sharply at him at that, and he smiled behind his mask, "I am aware we are unable deal with the medical needs they would have, but Kyoto house does. Besides a member of Kyoto house owes me one, and they are supposed to be helping the people of Japan. So I will have the people delivered directly to Kyoto House."

That provoked a response.

"You know where Kyoto House is based?"

"You know who is part of Kyoto House?"

"Someone in Kyoto owes you money?"

He held up his hands, "Yes I know where Kyoto is based. Yes I know all six members. Lastly no, he does not owe me money but he does owe me a favour from previously winning on really old game of go."

He noticed Taichi's eyes widen and wondered how he would write this up when he sent it Kyoto. It would be good to push them into action sooner, "Are there any other questions before we move on?"

"As much as it disgusts me to admit there is a lot of money involved with any drug trade even refrain, so shouldn't we look for cash? That and they are bound to have weapons we can take."

He considered how best to answer Sugiyama's question for a moment, "Yes there is a lot of money invested in the refrain trade. However it is unlikely to be on site, and I would rather not risk anyone wasting valuable escape time looking for any. We can look into having some people look for cash when we start our planning, but it is likely that they will have bribed Knightpolice on staff so we will have to move quickly. As for weapons we'll take anything that can be easily grabbed, but as we are currently well stocked and the objective here is to help the people of Japan by disrupting the refrain trade, not to gain more armaments it will not be very important."

"One last question. I know it helps but if you want to bring the fight to Britannia why waste resources on the refrain trade?"

He tilted his head a little as he stared at Taichi, "Two reasons. First what is the point of pushing the Britannian government out of Japan if we let its people be destroyed. Second, our people need training, they need experience. Raids like this are a good way to get that practice in."

Taichi nodded slowly in response, "That makes sense. There would likely be much less danger on a mission like this so even if there was a mistake we could learn from it without people dying."

"Exactly. Now if there are no more questions I wish to move on to plan three."

After a second of no response he started, "This is much more dangerous than the first two, and will be reserved for only those with the most experience in combat situations such as those that fought at Shinjuku, or those that ran the retreat action under Minami at the Blood of the Samurai's base."

He saw people pick up the third set of papers as confusion and surprise flitted across most of their faces, "Edison Airfield in Masuda is an integral part of the Britannian control over Japan, despite what people would think. It itself is not heavily armed and does not have many aircrafts present, which is why it is mostly ignored. It is important however because it is the main base where Britannia trains it's VOTL pilots that fight here in Japan. More importantly it has everything we would need to train our own VOTL pilots, simulators, manuals, electronic schematics. The primary objective of this would be to steal those."

There was silence for almost a minute as people looked at each other before Kallen sheepishly asked, "Even if we got stuff to train people with, we don't have any helicopters so what could we do with them?"

"Plans within plans Kallen. You are correct that we do not have any VOTLs now but that will change. This would also have the benefit of crippling Britannia's ability to replace its VOTL pilots. Over time this will limit Brittania's vision during major engagements, as Cornelia's strategies heavily rely on using VOTLs to serve as an extra set of eyes during battles."

"There's a great distance for us to bring the equipment back you know. I'm not sure how we would manage."

He smirked at Inoue's question before drumming his fingers on the table, "It is very true that the distance is rather great. We have trucks we can use to haul everything back, but it will take awhile. They will also have to be cautious. The drives will have to make stops and detours along the way. However I have full faith that it can be done. More so because there is no active resistance groups in the Masuda, so their guard will be relaxed and there reaction time will be slow."

Tsukiko cut in, "That all well and good but it could take them days to make it back to Tokyo."

"I am aware that this will be a long operation. It will not be the only one that we would perform."

"They don't have any automated defenses, only warning systems."

"That is correct Taichi. An oversight on the part of Britannia. As their base is in a 'safe' zone, and without having any Army forces present security is left completely to the Airforce and therefore is quite lacking."

Oghi nodded his head, "If we could pull of the raid on the Purists. I'm sure we can manage this one too."

He could hear the impatience to find out what the plan for Kallen was seep into Oghi's statement but ignored it, "Are there any other questions before we proceed?"

Silence was his response except for Oghi that shook his head, "Well then. Kallen this task would primarily have you work as a go between or messenger. There is a ex-member of the Britannian nobility that I am working on recruiting. It is subtle and will take time, but my plan is simple. There is a large tract of land north of Tokyo in the Niigata prefecture that was until recently owned by the Edmund family. The son was in one of the Knightmare we crush yesterday, and the father has been arrested due to him taking bribes from the Chinese. Without any cousins to inherit the land was forfeited to the state, and they are going to sell it. I will be setting this up so that our ex-noble will be the one to legally purchase the land which rounds up to about one hundred and thirty hectares of farmland designed for growing rice."

He noticed the confused looks around the table but focused on Kallen who, while annoyed, seemed to at least understand where he was going, "You plan to get them to be able to retake their noble title?"

"For now yes. It also will give us something else that would be important, despite how much it will displease some."

Taking a quick look across the table as he spoke he asked, "Who here knows someone who is Japanese that is having trouble keeping themselves both fed and living with a roof over their head?"

There was a few nods all around and a keen interest in Taichi's eyes , "I know many will hate the idea, refusing purely because the owner of the land would be Britannian. Something that would be especially difficult to overcome as we will not be able to explain why they should do this, but they would be willing to pay a fair wage with on site housing to anyone willing to work as a hired hand, despite what you might think of the Nobility she is too nice to pay them any less."

Kallen cut in, "That won't just make them Nobility though, yeah owning land and having workers working helps but it's not automatic like that."

"True Kallen. However, more than a few noble in the Britannian power structure of Area 11 are now either all incarcerated and more than a few are dead with our recent successes. While some will be inherited by people on the mainland, others will need new blood. The ex-noble I am working on is someone that Princesses Cornelia and Euphemia would gladly choose because of the connections her family had with backing specific members of the Royal family back when her grandfather was a Earl in the Royal Court."

Kallen nodded slowly, "Ok I get your trying to keep their identity a secret for now but I will have to know eventually right?"

There was murmurs of agreement, "Yes you will. However, I am still working on setting everything up, as I stated it's a work in progress, and you know the individual and it will be a shock to you that they are involved in this. So I will ask you not to look into who they are as currently I can not risk you saying something that might scare them off from going through with this. I would much rather wait till the land is purchased then fill in the blanks."

There were louder murmurs of agreement at that and Kallen went a little red, "Do you have any other questions Kallen?"

When she mutely shook her head he nodded at her, "Then let us get into planning. Ohgi, Minami and Tsukiko I want you to take the first plan and start brainstorming what you would do. Sugiyama, Kallen Taichi, I want you to look into number two. You have a half hour to brainstorm after that we will look at what you thought of and I will compare it to what I planned out."

He smirked as everyone got to work with only momentary confusion, this was different then last time when he walked them through planning a raid. It was time to see how much they had improved.

****G's G****

Bart elbowed Edgar in the gut as his older brother tried to push past him to get off the plane sooner. Which caused the flat footed idiot to bump into Claudio, which started a shoving war between all five of them that lasted until they disembarked from the back of the Embraer in something that was more like a pile of children.

Their father was staring at them in exasperation, but he could see the fondness that was always there in the crinkle of his eyes when they did something childish in a safe environment.

"Just what are you five doing?"

They may not have clicked their heels and saluted but all five of them jumped to attention just as they always did. As much as he might have been their father ever since their parents were killed, he had been their commander for enough years for the lines to blur.

"Sorry Sir."

"Good. Your five are Knights in the service of an Imperial Princess, you are not to make fools of yourself in such a spectacular manner. Understood."

"Yes, Sir."

He could see others at the base giving odd looks as they answered in complete synchronization, but they had done this enough that it was no challenge for them.

"Go get your things stowed. Then Edgar, Claudio you two are going to report to Sir. Guilford, he will be joining you in the Command Offices. Alfred, David you two will be joining me at Hangar six. We will be leaving on a short tour of the local military bases to make sure they are properly secured, operated, and staffed. Bart you will be reporting to the residential wing, and move quickly you will be replacing Sir. Guilford in watching Princess Euphemia under Princess Cornelia's orders. That means she can not order you away no matter what she says. All of you understand."

He didn't even respond as looked at his father with as much betrayal as he could muster, while trying to tone out the sarcastic condolences from his brothers. There was no job harder than looking after Princess Euphemia, and while being the youngest of his brother meant he was therefore closer to her age made her more likely to talk to him it did not in any way decrease the number of times she will try to escape the confines of wherever she was.

****G's G****

Taichi watched as Daisuke headed out. There was no one else he would trust with his review of Zero and his warnings that Zero claimed to know the members of Kyoto, and their location. The man was clearly brilliant, he had thought he was skilled at leading, but that man planned traps within traps that he could never have thought of. And he so wanted to trust Zero, he wanted to believe that what Zero was saying about retaking Japan would happen. Yet he had to be cautious. Kyoto was the main backer of all the resistance groups in Japan, to have someone in a resistance group that might know who they were and where they were located and could tie them to a resistance group was a leak of the worst kind. If it was true they would either have to kill Zero, or make sure he was kept alive and out of Britannian hands...

****G's G****

Suzaku picked up the bag he had packed last night and slung it over his shoulder as he made his way out of the room he was using in Lloyd's research facility. Since he had been transferred over to work directly for Lloyd in Camelot Program, he had been removed from the military barracks and was stuck living in a room Cécile had quickly converted from a storage room into a bedroom for him.

Taking one last look in the mirror to make sure he was properly wearing his uniform he started making his way out of the building to make sure he arrived to school on time. It had been so long, and he wanted to make a good impression, he would need it being an…

His depressing thoughts were interrupted as he was exiting the building as someone gently grabbed his shoulder.

"I'm so glad I caught you Suzaku. I was afraid you would leave before I got here."

He couldn't help but smile at Cécile, though with Lloyd's warnings he was a little leery of the box she was holding out for her, "You didn't need to see see me off Miss Cécile. Just helping me attend school is more than I could ask for."

She just waved what he said away, " Enough of that. You deserve to go to school as much as anyone else."

He noted that her smile looked rather sad just like that of so many others he had seen through the years that wished they could help him, " Still thank you. I should really be on my way to make sure I make it there on time."

Cécile however didn't let him leave yet, "Remember that you deserve to be there just as every other student there."

He nodded slowly as he swallowed the lump in his throat that formed at the surety she had when she said that. Cécile's smile brightened, "And make sure you take this Suzaku. I made it especially for your first day. I know having a lunch I made might not be the coolest thing but I thought having a homemade Bento might help you relax having something familiar."

She had trailed off at the end seeming worried about his reaction, so he tried as best to assure her as he could, "Thank you Miss Cécile. I would never turn down something you made yourself."

"Oh you're so sweet Lloyd never eats anything I make, he seems to live off only eating frozen foods. Now off with you, you have first impressions to make."

For a second Lloyd's warning came back to him before he shook it off, there was no reason to worry about it. At worst the food won't be any good and he could get his own lunch with the money Lloyd gave him and it would be the end of the problem.


	14. Plots Galore

Ok first there is a poll up as to which stories people would like to see updated next. Unless I have a story specific poll the 'update poll' will be the base poll on my profile. I will reset the poll at the beginning of each month so that votes can be recast if you want to see something else updated more.

Also I do not own Any part of the Code Geass Universe.

Chapter 13: Plots Galore

Jeremiah slowly set his cup of tea down on the table as Miss Sayoko finally took a seat across from him. He had been frustrated when she had finally arrived as he had been on his toes waiting for word since yesterday, but Miss Sayoko had not arrived until this morning. She had demurely apologized for taking so long and told him to sit as she made them tea for their discussion.

She had been so calm that it had instantly set his worries at ease as it meant the prince's plans had gone perfectly. Now he was waiting for her to say something.

"Lelouch's plans were successful, problematically more successful than he anticipated."

That was good news but also confused him, "How could them being more successful than he thought they would be a bad thing?"

Miss Sayoko frowned, "The rescue of the members of the Blood of the Samurai allowed almost half of the group to survive as well as saving most of their equipment. They however are keeping their distance despite joining Lelouch, and keeping their equipment to themselves even if they have far more in the way of equipment than they do people. There was a Britannian knightmare pilot captured during the retreat who is still unconscious. Lastly the escape was complicated by there being more Knightmares than expected and during the retreat a young girl charged a Knightmare that had been following them and shot it with an RPG and successfully destroyed an arm. This led to some infighting about what age the Resistance members should be allowed to fight."

That was disturbing, especially after the news he had received yesterday and what it would mean with him leaving the area soon. If there was unrest with the people the Prince had working for him it could be potentially dangerous, "How bad is this disagreement? Do we need to worry about the Prince's safety and is there something I should do to help?"

"No, you don't need to help. The disagreement involving ages had been resolved. For now at least. While not everyone is happy about the results, no one is going to fight over them. As for the surviving members of the Blood of the Samurai, Lelouch plans to bring them into the group permanently over the next week, while dividing them up with the rest of the organisation during raids. A few of his planned raids he wishes for your imput on, as you might know something personally about the places or people involved that would not have been on file and Lelouch could not find"

Well that was good at least, "I am at the service of the Prince. Did he tell you the places and people he wished to know about? I can not say I will know anything important but I will help if I can."

She smiled placing a rolled sheet of paper that seemed to just appear in her hand on the table, "Here are all the locations and officers of importance that he wants you to look over. He plans to visit this evening after Nunnally is asleep to go over things with you."

He nodded slowly as he glaced at the list noting that he recognized more than a few of the names.

"That's good to hear as there are many things I need to inform the Prince of."

Miss Sayoko's attention was now completely on him, "Good news I hope."

"A mix at best. Admiral Nelson has agreed to meet with me alone off base at the home of one of his subordinates in twelve days."

Sayoko nodded slowly, "I will have to inform Lelouch. Travel plans will have to made swiftly for you to have the time to confirm the security of the location."

"True. I assume you will inform him when you return. There is however something else as well. It has to do with my sister, she sent me a message yesterday. Officially I have been declared dead and she is being sent to Japan to take over my position of Margrave."

****G's G****

Kirihara waited patiently for the rest of Kyoto House to arrive for this urgent meeting. Young Taichi Yagami had sent in a report of his meeting with Zero and while they had been expecting it the report had taken longer to arrive than many of them had expected. Though from what he had read he could understand why the young man had waited to send it.

Looking back down at the report in his hand he slowly rubbed the bridge of his nose as all he could think was that this was going to be a major problem when the others arrived. Lelouch, as the report had all but confirmed it was him, had outdone himself, but at the same time had gotten overconfident with sending them this pointed message. Knowing who they were and where they were based was knowledge that was too dangerous for someone not sworn to them to know. It could put all of the Japanese Resistance in danger if Britannia even caught a whiff of what they were really doing. The rest of Kyoto would be up in arms over this, demanding his head to keep their secrets safe.

He could not let that happen, as while the boy had definitely grown up to be more impertinent than he had thought he would he was raising the spirits of the Japanese. Word had spread about Zero's actions, his killing of Viceroy Clovis might have been well known, but his actions in saving the Blood of the Samurai was becoming just as well known to the Japanese as well.

Thus the difficult position he found himself in. His knowledge of Lelouch aside he had to make a choice now. He could show this letter to the rest of Kyoto House and try to defuse the situation. Kaguya would assist him and there was a chance that Tousai Munakata would side with him if he explained it properly but still that would leave them in a three against three split which would force Lelouch to come in and reveal himself to them. Then even if he did convince Munakata to his side he would lose him as none of the other members would support an exiled Britannian Prince.

Sighing to himself one last time he thanked his ancestors that everyone currently here was completely loyal to him before the other members of Kyoto house as he pushed himself up from his seat. It was time to edit this letter so that the others would approve of him calling a private meeting with Lelouch that would suit him better. It would be like seven years ago again, now both of those foolish boy had caused a mess he had to clean up after them.

****G's G****

It was extremely frustrating to try to intently focus on something when at the same time she had to act as if she was just a sick and weak girl.

Kallen had been paying attention to every detail of her classmates since their homeroom teacher had announced that they would be having an Honorary Britannian joining them as a student. There had been a decent amount of chatter heavily laced with disbelief with a large amount of disgust mixed in.

But Zero's claim that there might be people here who shared her hatred of Britannia ran through her mind and she tried to take in everything just in case. Besides his arrival would probably be her only chance to properly observe him as she had no idea what classes he would be in and while there were three desks unoccupied in their homeroom one had been added to the back corner this morning so she knew where this boy was going to end up sitting.

Suddenly the door slid open and a boy that was clearly japanese walked into the room, bowing slightly to the teacher, "I apologize Mrs. Kinne for my tardiness. President Ashford forgot to give me my map for my classes after she gave me my tour this morning."

That was more believable than any other excuse he could possible have said. Milly's infuriating obnoxiousness and her desire to not really do anything was something that had grated on her since she had been forced to join the student council.

It seemed the teacher was aware of such tendencies as well as she just sighed, "Understood. Now please come here."

She noted that the boy's shoulders sank a little at that but then he seemed to miss a step while walking to the front of the class as his eyes went a little wide. She quickly tried to discreetly look at what he had seen behind her but couldn't for the life of her figure it out.

Her attention turned back to the front of the class when Mrs. Kinne started speaking, "Class allow me to introduce our new student, Private Suzaku Kururugi. He is currently serving in the Britannian Military and I expect you to give him the appropriate respect deserving of his status understood."

Well that was one way to speak out both ends of her mouth, on the surface that seemed respectable but as he was just an eleven one could argue he should be treated much like dirt beneath the student's shoes.

"Private Kururugi please take the empty window seat."

She didn't even have time to sigh knowing she was correct when a voice spoke up, "He can sit next to me Mrs. Kinne. There is an open desk next to me and I have not seen Suzaku in a few years."

She couldn't keep the surprise off her face as she turned around to see Lelouch standing as he addressed their teacher, pulling at the neckline of his shirt as he smiled a shit eating grin up at Suzaku who seemed to have smiled back a little worriedly. Nor could anyone else in their class as they seemed to collectively be more dumbstruck than Mrs. Kinne who was just standing there staring slackjawed at Lelouch like he had just claimed to be royalty.

****G's G****

She almost froze at what she had just heard while making her way out to eat lunch with Shirley and, if she could rope the young redhead into it, Kallen.

"I know. I can't believe that someone like Lelouch would know an eleven so well."

Milly swallowed the lump in her throat. She had been concerned that this might be some plan especially when she had found out that Suzaku was the son of Genbu Kururugi. She just had to hope that this was just whatever connection they might have made as children when they lived together. Though having known Lelouch for years she highly doubted that, there was little to no chance that those two would have become friends with how Lelouch had acted when he was younger…

"I mean it's so chivalrous though like a Prince taking some little beggar under his wing as a squire to keep it safe."

She stopped dead and snorted as she tried desperately to keep in the laughter that sprung from the pure irony of what the foolish girl had just said. Shaking her head she continued on her way to her friends, if that was how the 'chivalrous prince' wanted to be seen, she would have to see about getting Mr. Kururugi in the student council for them to spend more time together.

As she mused on how to do that, she momentarily wondered what would happen if she covertly started a rumor that the two boys were more than just friends… It had promise, and the chaos it would cause might get her out of this funk. Then she could really figure out what to do.

****G's G****

Lelouch waited patiently on the roof for Suzaku to join him for lunch, slowly munching on his share of C.C.'s pizza from late last night. Everything had already changed from the last time Suzaku had joined the school. While Suzaku had shown up, and his class had been about as receptive of him as a leper, this time he had made sure it was known that Suzaku was his friend, and that had changed everything.

While it had not been an instant shift to everyone welcoming Suzaku it had clearly paved the way to him being treated better at least by those in their year. The best example was Shirley who as soon as Suzaku had been seated had started asking about how he had known Suzaku as a child. She was always so kind and…

Shaking his head he focused on other things he had noticed with his fellow students. Kallen had been very introspective all morning ever since Suzaku arrived, something he was sure was a both a good sign and would bite him in the ass on a personal level when he revealed himself to her.

He turned as he heard the door open. His eyes landed on Suzaku holding a bag in his hand, and for a moment it was like he was in a different place and time. Suzaku's happy and relieved face turned into a twisted mockery, full of hate and rage, leveling a handgun at him. Suzaku's yell of, "Lelouch" echoed in the cave they were in...

Shaking his head desperately to get rid of the memory of his second visit to Kamine Island, he focused again on the actual moment. Suzaku seemed slightly unsure now if he should be here so he decided to start, "It's been so long since we used that signal, hasn't it Suzaku?"

Suzaku nodded, walking over to the railing to join him, "Let's discuss this in the attic wasn't it?"

He felt his lips quirk into a smile like they had last time as he reminisced, "Yes. Yes, it was... I'm glad you are ok Suzaku."

Suzaku looked a little abashed as he nodded, then his friend became serious, "Wait, what about the girl Lelouch?"

He stiffened a little, but proceeded like he had planned, "She is safe, staying with Nunnally and me. She was a human test subject in something called Project-R... Any chance you know anything? I don't want to press her as she won't talk about it, but you know..."

Suzaku had frozen, bitterly whispering, "No. They told us it was poison gas and any attempt to ask questions was swiftly discouraged."

There was silence for a moment, "So I noticed that everyone still calls you Lelouch?"

He started drumming his fingers along the railing, "Officially Lelouch and Nunnally Vi Britannia died in the invasion. Now, we go by Lelouch and Nunnally Lamperouge."

Suzaku gave him a quizzical look, "Isn't that your mother's maiden name?"

He only nodded as Suzaku continued slightly worried, "Then how are you still in hiding? Wouldn't it be really easy to find you?"

He saw Suzaku's eyes travel to his own fists as they clenched tightly on the railing, "You would think so wouldn't you?"

This time a rather awkward silence settled between the two of them. He knew what Suzaku would be thinking, how could his family have made such little effort towards find them. After a few seconds he had enough of that and clasped Suzaku on the back, "I assume that's your lunch there?"

Suzaku lifted the bag as though it was some prize, "Yeah. One the people I work with made it for me. She thought having a traditional style lunch would make my day better. I think she decided to make me a Bento."

That was interesting, to his knowledge Suzaku and Cécile had never been that close, but more importantly he was aware of how Cécile's cooking was normally received…

He slowly took a bite of his second slice of pizza as he watched Suzaku open the box and was surprised at how normal it seemed compared to what he had expected.

"It looks like Lloyd's warning was exaggerated on how bad it would be. It kind of looks like a makunouchi bento, though I think those are pickled strawberries and usually you would use pickled apricots."

He shot Suzaku a look at the boy's cheerfulness, wondering how he could dismiss the warning of someone that clearly knew much more than he did so casually.

He watched intently as Suzaku eat the pickled strawberries clearly not finding them all that appealing before picking up some type of fried food he then dunked into sweet and sour sauce before popping it into his mouth. He felt a little worried when Suzaku froze and his face contorted into a grimace before shoving a big chunk of rice in his mouth.

"You sure that's ok to eat?"

Suzaku swallowed quickly before speaking, "It's fine. She just used a little too much vinegar in the sweet and sour sauce, and I think that there is some hot curry mixed into the breading on the fried squid. It just took me by surprise, that's all."

He let his mind wander as they finished eating while talking about lighter topics like school and classes. Only really paying attention again when Suzaku bit into the rolled omelette and took a spit take because there was a 'bit' too much salt. Though he had to admit that he was surprised Suzaku finished everything in the bento box.

This was an interesting development. He planned on bringing Suzaku over to his side slowly, something that would be much easier now that Suzaku had basically been made a Knigtmare Pilot, despite not having been able to pilot the Lancelot in Shinjuku and he planned for it to stay that way. By making sure that Suzaku never managed to see much active fighting with the Lancelot. His accomplishments had been what had spurred Suzaku into thinking he could change things last time, so if he made it so that his way of doing things was accomplishing much more, while offering Suzaku a chance to work together, destroying only the problems within Britannia and bringing forth a better society...

And if Suzaku truly was closer to Cécile Croomy than last time, maybe he could gain a second ingenious Knightmare engineer this time. Shaking the plans that had been forming in his mind away as he noted the time he smiled at Suzaku as he pushed off the railing they were leaning against.

"Come on we will need to get back to class soon. Tomorrow night though, I need you to be free, ok?"

Suzaku seemed confused as he trailed next to him, "I guess I could ask, but I don't know if Lloyd and Miss Cècile will let me of just to meet up with a friend."

He pursed his lips, "Well persuade them, I want you over for dinner. Both Nunnally and myself have missed you, and you can meet everyone else that lives with us. Besides I have a few handguns you said you didn't want me to keep right?"

As Suzaku hesitantly agreed while they made their way inside, Lelouch had to fight back the scowl at the fact that people were giving him pointed looks for hanging out with the person that might actually be his first real friend.

****G'S G****

C.C. grinned as she waltzed into the dining room carrying the tray of shortbread cookies she had spent the morning making while Sayoko was away . She really enjoyed the time she had spent with Nunnally, the girl was sweet, yet at the same time she seemed to have a rather understated prankster streak as well. It was not surprising seeing as who the little girl's mother was and seeing how much time the young girl spent with Milly, but it only made her that much more fun to be around. However at other times the young girl seemed to clam up and withdraw into herself, shunning everyone but her brother.

Now however, the young Princess had cordially invited her to tea today, something the younger girl hinted she wanted to make happen everyday she came back to the Clubhouse for lunch. She felt that this would be a great time to put her own master plan into action, Operation Bright Light she called it.

By getting Nunnally and Rolo to fall for each other, many things would be accomplished, or to paraphrase Lelouch 'many objectives would be cleared'. First, there was a slight possibility that spending extended periods of time with the sweet Princess was all Rolo needed to truly get himself on the way towards becoming a normal child. It was unlikely and a long shot at best, but it would at least help him adjust a little. Second, Rolo would then keep Nunnally safe, Lelouch would not have to worry about her safety and there would be nothing like what happened in the first battle of Tokyo. Third, she could tease Nunnally about her cute boyfriend and it wouldn't just be the younger girl trying to tease her about Lelouch like she did currently. Lastly, setting the two of them up would irk Lelouch like no other.

All of that was on top of the fact that the two were just so cute at times that them being together would be over the top cute.

She took the place that was clearly laid out for her and waited patiently for Nunnally to show up. She ran her hand down the top she was wearing, smoothing out any wrinkles that might be present, when she heard the sound of the door opening. As Nunnally wheeled her mechanized wheelchair into the room she smiled, "I'm glad you could make it to tea Nunnally."

Nunnally's face broke into a large smile, "Lady C.C., I'm so glad we can talk again. Lady Sayoko said that she would be here with lunch and tea shortly."

She smiled devilishly know exactly how the refined Sayoko would react when she walked into the room, and the problems that would cause. "I am always around to talk to if you want to Nunnally. Truthfully, I enjoy spending time with you, and not even just so I can learn more about Lelouch."

Nunnally just giggled, "Well in that case Lady C.C. what would you like to know about Brother Lelouch?"

She rubbed her chin thoughtfully before she replied, "I'm sure you still have some really embarrassing stories to tell me, but I don't think it would be fair if you just talked about your brother all of lunch. I mean there are so many other topics we can talk about as well. Is there anything you would like me to talk about in exchange. I'm sure if nothing else I know a few of my own stories about your brother?"

She laughed as Nunnally's face lit up neon red, as the younger girl tried to demurely reply, "I... I don't think you need to tell me anything like that Lady C.C., but..." She actually was intrigued as Nunnally trailed off for a moment, "Can you tell me anything about the boy, Rolo. I haven't seen him or talked to him much since he started staying here, and after last time when you walked in on me hugging him I think he is avoiding me."

The cute way that Nunnally ended that with a pout made her want to cackle with evil laughter. She didn't even have to do much work, now all she had to do was nurture this curiosity and shape it and puff. She will have created the cutest young couple on the planet.

She started to reply, only to frown as the door opened revealing Sayoko arriving much sooner than she had planned. What was more unexpected was Sayoko actually losing her calm demeanor for a moment as the super-secret-ninja-maid basically squeaked, "Miss C.C. what are you wearing?"

She looked down at her top as though she was thinking about the answer, though in reality she was trying to hide her smile, as it would ruin her plan. If she pulled this off Lelouch would be in for a big interrogation from Nunnally tonight and she could work on getting Rolo to at least talk to Nunnally without outside interference, "This is Lelouch's shirt. I thought because I would only be seeing Nunnally for lunch it would not matter if I didn't dress up and stayed in my pajamas."

She smirked a little at the blush she saw colour Sayoko's checks, but the response came from behind her, "You sleep in brother's shirts?"

Trying to put a little bit of surprise into her voice as she replied with a conspiratorial smile, "Why of course I do. They are comfortable, and they smell like him as well. ."

She took great pleasure at the red colour Nunnally turned before Sayoko asked in a demanding but still reserved voice, "But Lady C.C. what about pants?"

She looked down again just to check, "Lelouch's shirts come down to mid thigh so I am not too worried."

She internally was laughing as Nunnally gasped, Sayoko however continued, "But what if someone else walked in?"

Shrugging as if it was nothing she replied, "Well I didn't think it would bother you to much. The only other people that might walk in are Rolo and Lelouch. Rolo would most likely bolt out of the room in embarrassment and Lelouch has seen it before, as I said these are my pajamas."

In the silence that followed all she could hear was Lelouch's voice in her imagination yelling, "Damn Witch!" and she knew that even though he wasn't here to witness it, she had won this round.

****G's G****

Villetta knew that this was big news. The Glaston Knights were known throughout the world for their skills and their history as Princess Cornelia's best knightmare pilots, and now they were here in Japan.

While this was something her lord would want to know soon she still had not found anything on what he asked her to look for. He was sure that the Princess was going to try and reenact Prince Clovis' attack on Shinjuku Ghetto somewhere but she couldn't find anything to confirm it.

She knew however that the Princess had many closed door meetings with both Sir Guilford and Sir Darlton and she assumed that was what they must be discussing. Because while it was entirely possible that Lord Lelouch could be wrong, it fit the Princess' profile to make a major attack to start a campaign and while she did attack the Blood of the Samurai it had been a rather small operation. She had to find out somehow what they were planning because whatever it was, that information was what she needed.

That however was the problem, this was important news but it was not the news she knew the Prince was looking for, and while she would love to pass it on to him everyone was looking for spies and other foreign operatives. So it was best to keep her number of messages sent to the Prince low, which was causing a dilemma. Should she inform the Prince about the Glaston Knights now or after she had found out what the Princess was planning?

****G's G****

Lloyd had been very pleased when Suzaku had walked into the hangar after his first day of classes, both alive and seemingly healthy. Though he instantly noted that Suzaku was looking around the room warily before his eyes settled on Cécile with a guarded expression that his assistant did not seem to notice.

Not that it had been hard for him to find Cécile because as soon as he had walked through the door she rushed over to him asking him question about his day and about the lunch that she made. And that had been when he was no longer pleased to see his pilot.

It was one thing to eat Cécile's food, if the boy was such a masochist that he enjoyed the pain of eating something so disgusting who was he to judge. It was however an entirely different thing to talk up her 'cooking' as if she was even a millionth as skilled at cooking as she was at engineering. The stupid boy had made it seem like it was his fault for not liking food that was clearly disgusting, what kind of demon woman mixes mustard and sweet chilli sauce into a rolled omelette...

No. For what he had done Suzaku will have to pay the price, what that was exactly he was unsure but when he thought of it, the boy would pay. In the end all that mattered was that the boy could still pilot the lancelot, past that he didn't care what happened to the boy anymore.

****G's G****

Setting down his glass of sake on the mobile home's main table, as he shot a glance to Taichi he had to ask, "Hell of a day wasn't it?"

Ohgi smirked as the younger man snorted before replying, "Never figured that would happen just because we sided with you. I mean that woman from Mitaka said she didn't even care if we joined you, the resistance group in Mitaka wanted to join up with anyone that would travel over a hundred miles just to save their fellow Japanese."

He bit back the comment that came to mind. In their first meeting he had thought Zero might not be Japanese by birth and if anything he felt it was far more likely now, but how many people would still join them if they knew.

"Inoue said she would get in touch with Zero while Sugiyama and Tsukiko check out Haruka's claim and if she really is a higher up in Mitaka start integrating her with our people. It's a big step for us."

"No kidding. If she is telling the truth and they do join up that will push the number of people under Zero to almost whats the Blood of the Samurai had before the attack."

"Yes… Yes it will."

Ohgi felt he would have to relay that to Zero as well. If Taichi was counting his people as those that reported to Zero maybe he didn't have to worry so much about the seemingly present divide between their groups.

He barely looked up when he heard the door open, though when Minami spoke he cleared his mind and gave his friend his full attention.

"Ohgi I got something here you need to see."

He blinked at the envelope that was in Minami's hands, his eyes were drawn to the seal that kept the manila envelope closed.

He swallowed thickly as he stared at the seal, "The courier is outside. He walked right up to the warehouse and demanded entry. He had this and said it was for Zero's eyes only. He refuses to leave until he knows Zero got the message."

Fumbling in his pockets for the phone Zero gave him specifically for emergencies, "Go get him and bring him in, Taichi go get someone else for help. Inoue is still around somewhere getting a total inventory of everything we saved from the Samurai base and I don't know get one of your people and someone from the Ichikara group too as Sugiyama and Tsukiko aren't here."

He heard the phone start to dial as both men left the room, it might not be an emergency but Zero needed to be here if they had someone from Kyoto here to personally see this message was delivered to Zero specifically.

****C's G****

Raising from his short formal bow towards Prince Jasper, Captain Gibbs slowly took in the prince sitting across pompously at the desk across from him feeling he knew what this meeting was about after his talk with Nelson.

"Captain you will be taking one of your three remaining squads and travelling to our main naval base in Area 12 tomorrow at 0900. There you will be acting separately from the base command as you will be inspecting the actions of every officer in the Fourth Pacific Fleet. There have been some very anti Britannian actions covered up within that fleet and I have finally been asked by the young man in charge of the Fleet for help. I want all offenders listed but nothing done to them, you will bring me the names of every single one of them and evidence of their actions, after that I will deal with them is that understood Captain?"

If he had not set this up himself and wasn't dealing with this self aggrandized fool of a prince he would be asking what the hell was going on that had him doing the OSI's job, but as it was he just answered with a quick affirmative and waited for his dismissal. It would take a while to get Lieutenant Dispenza and his squad ready for travel.

His stomach fell away though as he saw the Prince's trademark smirk he knew and despised. It was the same one the Prince used every time his unit got smaller. Every time one of his men was transferred, every time someone retired, and also every time someone died that smirk was there on that bastard's face. Just like when he knew what happened to Lieutenant Adams' squad...

****C's G****

Watching as Jeremiah looked over the plan to get him to the Philippines for his meeting with Admiral Nelson, Lelouch felt his mind wander to the other piece of information he had been told by Sayoko.

Since he had arrived they had focused on getting Jeremiah to the Philippines and planning out contingency plans for anything that might happen before, during or after Jeremiah's meeting with Nelson, as well as where they should go from there.

However there was one other thing he wanted to talk to Jeremiah about, "Jeremiah before we discuss my proposed targets I want to talk to you about your sister."

Jeremiah's head shot up completely disregarding what he had been looking at, "Your Highness, my sister she… She isn't a threat. She has a kind heart. I'm sure-"

"I have no plans to harm your sister Jeremiah. I wish to discuss another plan I am working on with you."

The relief in the older man's face was plain as day, "I apologize your highness, but she is my sister and...:"

He cut in as Jeremiah trailed off his face reddening, "A sentiment I can understand better than most Jeremiah. There is still danger but I will do everything in my power to keep her safe if you think she is capable of doing what would be needed."

Though his expression became a bit pinched Jeremiah nodded for him to continue, "I plan to work discreetly to help Milly Ashford take back her family's noble status. Then with the connection to my family that the Ashford had work her way into the confidence of my sister. Over time mostly through Milly, though with some interactions of my own, I plan to play on my sister's kind nature to get her to renounce Britannia and side with me to help the people. If you are agreeable I would like your sister to assist Milly. From your admittance Lilliana is only a year or two older than Milly correct?"

Jeremiah nodded slowly looking deeply worried, "Yes your highness only two years older. However if I would be so bold your highness how could you expect them to have any influence on Princess Cornelia?"

"Wrong sister Jeremiah."

Jeremiah blinked, then blinked again in confusion, "I don't plan for them to have any influence on Cornelia, she is too hard headed for anyone I could work into her circle to influence in any real way. The only one that has any sway over Cornelia is my sister Euphie, and if I gain Euphie to my side Cornelia will stop fighting. She was raised in court, under the shadow of my father, and will not think past the thought that I might hurt Euphie to get to her. I would never hurt Euphie, but if letting Cornelia think I will until I have her captured and unharmed is the safest option for all involved then so be it. I-"

He stopped as his emergency phone started vibrating in his pocket. Pulling it out he cursed under his breath as he saw the caller ID, bringing the phone to his ear he answered Ohgi's call.

****G's G****

Nunnally slowly sank into her pillows as Miss C.C. closed the door to her bedroom after tucking her in tonight.

She had smiled and thanked her as she did with Sayoko but… She didn't want them to tuck her in, she didn't want them to hover and take care of her like that. She could take care of herself at least a little, she.. She wasn't useless.

It was different when it was big brother because he was her big brother. It was… He…

She shook her head to clear it, now was not the time to go down that road. Even to herself she had trouble explaining exactly why she was ok with her Big Brother babying her. There was just too many things that came together to make it ok to her for her to explain it.

But that was her big brother, she didn't need everyone else treating her like she was… was…

She choked back a sob as she quietly whimpered, "useless."


	15. Seeking Comfort

Remember I own nothing within the Code Geass Universe.

Chapter 14: Seeking Comfort

As he moved from the warehouse to the mobile home Lelouch had to admit that things were going far better than he had expected. Currently the warehouse was bustling with activity as people did some last minute fix ups on all the vehicles, so that they would be ready for the upcoming missions.

His attention however shifted as he stepped inside to those within the mobile home and was pleasantly surprised at seeing who were present, seeing as Sugiyama and Tsukiko were still in Shinjuku. Oghi, Minami, and Inoue were sitting together having a hushed discussion. Taichi being present was not much of a surprise either. It was the two others in the room were who drew his eyes first. It took him a moment to place the one sitting with Taichi as the one who original traveled to Shinjuku to ask for help for the Blood of the Samurai, although he didn't remember his name.

The last was clearly the messenger that Kyoto sent. He was decked out in a fancy black suit and tie as well as a metal framed and dark tinted glasses that reflected light as well as his bald head did. The individual clearly radiated a dangerous vibe and if it wasn't so stereotypical he would assume the man was ex-Yakuza.

"It is good to see you have finally decided to arrive Zero."

He smirked behind his mask at the man from Kyoto as he felt most of his people bristle in annoyance, "I see that you wish to get straight to business. I believe you have a message to deliver. If Kyoto wants an account of my other endeavours besides sitting around at my base of operations they will be sure to bring it up in their message."

The man didn't react, merely gestured to Ohgi who was holding a large manila envelope. Taking the envelope and ripping it open, "Will I be needing anything to decode the message they sent?"

"No. Kyoto House trusts that any message sent with me will safely make it to the intended recipient."

That gave him pause as he pulled out the papers inside. Looking up he gave a once over of the man before him, ignoring the clothes and their blatant association knowing that Kirihara at least would never trust a gangster with something like an unencrypted message. He found nothing though, no emotions, not even the smugness he expected to see radiating from the man was present. That lack of anything however was a big red flag, he knew a few other people just like that, though he assumed the skill set was more connected to one person in particular. "Interesting. Though I should not be surprised that those with your skills and training would work with Kyoto house."

The man's eyes narrow, just like Sayoko's did when someone she didn't trust got to close to Nunnally, "Oh?"

"I have the advantage of having spent many years around the thirty seventh Successor of the Shinozaki School."

Looking down at the papers in his hands he noted the man's posture stiffen and the confused looks on most of his people's faces, although he ignored this as he took a seat while briefly perusing the papers. It was mostly long winded tripe of no real substance detailing how he could work 'with' them to free Japan. It also went into detail about how he was summoned to a meeting with a representative from Kyoto House this upcoming Thursday evening in the same fashion as he had met with them last time. A problem as his current plans had his raids going on at the same time and while he didn't believe that he needed to be there for the raids, being present would increase his understanding of how well his people did and allow him to intervene if needed.

Placing the papers on the table he first looked at Ohgi then Taichi, "Our plans have changed. We have been summoned to a meeting and will need to go over who will be joining us on Thursday for this meeting. Myself and three others are to present ourselves to a representative from Kyoto House to see if they will be willing to back us. Taichi, Minami, you will go get everyone that is going with you to the Edison Airbase. You will be leaving at noon today rather than in two days from now. I want everything prepped, all instructions gone over one last time and then to bed. You will all need your rest. While we haven't had the time to get all the eighteen wheelers the three we already have will have to meet our needs."

Shooting a look at the young man with Taichi, "I need you to go check on how things are going with the Mitaka group. If it looks good bring them in on our planned raids as we will be pushing those forwards as well."

Turning to address the messenger, "I hope that you will inform Kyoto House that The Demon of The Woods of Kururugi Shrine will be attending the meeting they called."

There was the first true expression of emotion he saw from the man as he looked at him in confusion, "Is that suppose to mean something?"

"It will be understood by those that need to understand it."

The man stared at him hard, "Interesting."

The man suddenly started moving and for a split second he wondered if the man was going to attack him but he just walked to the door, "Your transport will be waiting as described."

The room was silent as the door to the transport slid shut behind the man until, "That man was creepy."

Shooting a look at Taichi, "Yes he was. However now we must decide who will attend. We have three spots, and I would like to hear your thoughts on who should be sent before I decide. However, I would like to note that this unlike what we have planned before is not a combat mission. This is politics so keep that in mind."

It was Taichi that spoke up first, "Wouldn't it be best to have Oghi, Tsukiko and me go. That way each of the three groups that joined up are represented?"

"Simply put no."

Waving his hand to cut everyone off before they started speaking while getting their attention he continued, " The group from Ichikara only had eleven people in it, we have had seventeen people that have not been affiliated with any group join us, and all this is not including if the group from Mitaka joins us which would increase our group by almost fifty people. Adding to that, Tsukiko has no truly useful experience from before she was a resistance fighter and she just does not have the qualities or backing that would impress Kyoto House."

"However before I talk about either you or Oghi I want to ask you something. Why would bringing the leaders of groups be the best choice?"

"It's not."

He turned to look at the young man with Taichi who pushed up his glasses when everyone turned to look at him, "You have to think about it like the Council of the Blood of the Samurai? They had a few people who had combat experience but they also had people that did other things to, like working on vehicles, finances, and some that worked on trying to find out where Britannian troops were."

It wasn't the most eloquent way of explaining it but he was on the right track, "In short yes. It would look better if we showed that there was more depth to our organization then just people following me. However, it is not that simple. Just having someone that knows about military vehicles would help with planning a raid, hence why your top mechanic might have been on the council, but they would not help us with Kyoto. Politics is just not that simple."

Sighing he wanted to run his hand over his face in annoyance with himself, trying to teach them politics at this point was just impractical. It would be better to just explain his choices and continue this later when they have more time.

****G's G****

She bristled as he open the door to their room and ignored his tired and haggard look, "Where have you been?"

Lelouch froze, his eyes darting from the bed to where she was sitting at the desk, briefly passing over the bedding on the floor as he frowned, "You didn't need to stay awake for me C.C."

She felt her eyes narrow, "It's four in the morning, you were supposed to be home hours ago."

"A messenger from Kyoto arrived at the warehouse and wanted-"

"Sayoko called Jeremiah when you didn't return on time. So I'm aware where you were and why. What I'm annoyed of is why it took us calling Jeremiah to find out where you were when you could have called at any time and said you would be out longer."

He looked confused as he stared at her for a moment before his shoulders sagged and his face turned into an infuriating look of understanding, "You are right. I should have told you what was happening. I did not mean to make you worry about me, and I apologise."

She forced herself to snort in her annoyance, there was no way in hell he was getting out of this that easily, "If you want to apologise to someone that was worried, Rolo is two doors down boy."

"I see. And the bedding on the floor?"

"You made your bed boy, now you have to sleep in it."

She tried to ignore how waspish she sounded when Lelouch replied clearly annoyed, "So I'm kicked out of my own bed?"

"Sayoko assisted in making sure it was appropriately uncomfortable for you."

"Fine…", His entire look shifted to resigned after it was said that Sayoko was involved, from his expression to his posture and that only annoyed her more. She couldn't find out what bothered her more, that he resigned himself to his punishment so fast, denying her the right to yell at him, or that Sayoko's disapproval and not hers was the final nail in his defeat.

****G's G****

"Well isn't this a pleasant sight. an adorably cute girl at my door this early in the morning."

Stifling a giggle as she answered, "Stop it Milly. Sayoko has brought me here because I have a important message from brother Lelouch."

She might not be able to see Milly but as she hadn't been able to see for seven years she had adapted in that time. Because of this she heard the subtle sound of Milly moving and the tremor of her voice keyed her in that Milly had gone tense, "Oh. What does Lelouch need from me?"

"He was out late last night and didn't get back till early this morning. So Lady C.C. asked me to ask you if he could be excused from his first few classes so he could get some sleep."

There was a few seconds of silence during which she wondered what Milly was thinking. She herself was still rather conflicted about everything. Brother Lelouch had said he was going out to meet some of the people he did business with, something about the increase in violence potentially affecting his investment. She knew that wasn't true though, and it bothered her that he had lied to her like that. On top of that he had been gone so often recently, and the way everyone, especially with how Lady C.C., and Miss Sayoko acted about him going out, she knew something had to be going on. Milly's reaction though made her wonder if even Milly knew too. She knew brother Lelouch looked after her and sheltered her but… would he really not tell her if something big was going on?

"I'll make sure that everything is taken care of Nunnally."

"Thank you Milly, would…"

She felt Miss Sayoko let go of her wheelchair, "I'll take that Sayoko, maybe I can get little Nunnally to help me with something in return for helping her big brother this morning."

"What could I help you with?"

"You said that C.C. the girl that Lelouch has been spending so much alone time with asked? Well I feel like I should get to know her better, I only spent that one evening waiting for Lelouch talking to her, and anyone that is that close to your brother needs my approval to right?"

Stifling another giggle she thought about the fact that she knew Suzaku would be joining them for dinner tonight, "I might have an idea…"

****G's G****

"Taichi and Minami have just left Oghi... Are you sure that it's a good idea to move everything forward like this just so it can happen before meeting Kyoto House?"

Looking up at Tsukiko, he had to admit there was some truth in that. He had been so focused on that Kyoto House wanted to meet them and sound them out to potentially back them that he had not thought about how they had moved everything forward to make sure everything was done before meeting them. Though as he thought about it, moving the operations forward should not have too much of an affect on anything. The only real difference on cutting back their prep time for the airfield raid was they had planned to have six eighteen wheelers ready to load with simulators, equipment and other gear. They had managed to wrangle up one more eighteen wheeler this morning, bringing their total up to four, but it still was two short of their original plan. Other then that there were no drastic difference in any of their plans.

"There should not be too much of a difference. Nothing really changed mu-"

"Except everyone feels rushed. Even with Zero working it out so everyone would have so much wiggle room to make it back before the meeting, we all still feel rushed. And that's what causes mistakes."

That was sadly true but there was little they could do about that, "Then we will have to make sure that for our raids tomorrow everyone is relaxed and focused."

"And what about the group that has already left?"

He frowned knowing where this was going to go, while Tsukiko had calmed down around Zero she was still adamant that young people should not be involved in fighting. While he empathized with why she thought so and agreed with her in the cases with the younger members from the Blood of the Samurai, he also found her persistence in including everyone that was 'young' kind of annoying seeing as he was only a year or two older then Taichi when he started fighting.

"Taichi and Minami know what they are doing. Besides they have another eighteen people going with them now, since those people from Mitaka will be joining us."

"Even then their patrol schedules are different-"

He cut her off before she could say anything else, "Yes they are, and Zero went over all of this with us when we made the changes last night. I know you were not there but we discussed all of this. Yes our attacks will be happening at different times, but we made sure to make it so that we were operating under the same conditions. So rather than two a.m. Friday they will be attacking the airfield at seven p.m. tonight."

Tsukiko just dug in her heels, "But something could happen to them."

This was getting no where, "Yes it could, just like in every other 'operation' we have done. So what is different with this one?"

Annoyance flashed in Tsukiko's eyes, "I was always there to tell my people to pull out if I needed to. Now I have people halfway across Japan and have no way of telling them when something is too dangerous."

While that was not what he expected, he could understand where she was coming from in wanting to protect the people that had been a part of 'her' group, and it was something he had already dealt with in his own way. It was something that she would have to come to terms with herself, "I understand how you feel." Holding up his hand to cut off her interruption, "I knew most of the people in my group since before the invasion, they are not just members of my group, they are long time friends and some like Kallen are like family. This is a problem that you are going to have to come up with your own personal solution for."

"How can you just trust him with your people after that _power_ we saw? I mean…"

That was a tough one to answer, "There is no direct reason why I guess. More like a lot of little things you know? I mean... he has really helped us. He didn't need to tell us, he could have just hidden it and never said anything to us, and honestly if he did he could have used it on us without us being any the wiser. So I guess in the end it all just comes down to if you trust Zero."

"Well I still-"

*Slam*

Both whirled around, as while the doors to the mobile home were automatic, they could be forced open by hand though he didn't think either of them had seen anyone force the door open since they started using this base.

"The chick is up!"

He looked at Tamaki in confusion, "What?"

"The Britannian chick that Sugiyama brought back. She's up and demanding to talk to whoever's in charge."

****G's G****

Placing her carry on luggage into the overhead compartment Liliana plopped into her seat and scooched over to the window for one last look at the homeland. At the very least the last for a very long time.

Her entire life had changed rapidly over the past weekend. Her Aunt and Uncle had been pushing for her brother Jeremiah to be declared dead and for his will to be read in the hopes that one of their sons would inherit her brother's Title of Margrave, with all the benefits one could obtain with the title.

It had been so difficult to deal with her pushy relatives while faking the devastation about her brother's apparent death. She didn't think she would have been able to get through the past weekend if it wasn't for two things.

Having told her brother that this was happening in their private emails, he had told her to go through the process as it would benefit her. It would also help him if he was declared dead, though she didn't think he realized that she would be sent to Area 11 because of her inheriting his title. If he hadn't been on board with this she was sure she wouldn't have been able to go through with the plan.

The only other thing that had been of any help this past weekend was the governmental lawyer that had been sent to oversee the processing of her brother's last will and testament, Jaina Albright. The woman had been a godsend. Mrs. Albright had even gone so far as to help her set everything up for her to travel to Area 11 so she could take up her new position there earlier than previously planned after it became apparent her Aunt and Uncle had quite a bad reaction to the news that their sons were not getting her brother's title. She had said it was the least she could do for her and her deceased brother, as she had worked with Jeremiah when he had worked for the Vi Britannias as a Guard.

So now here she was leaving her home all her friends and would be starting over with an almost completely blank slate in one of the Areas. There was nobody she knew in Area 11, she would be living in her brother's old house and… Well she didn't really know what she would be doing there.

She had previously worked as an international logistics manager for Dynamis Corporation, but organizing mining operations all across the globe didn't really translate to commanding in the military. Mrs. Albright had been adamant that that would not matter, as while her brother had been the head of the Purist faction and therefore ran their military operations that was his own personal job, as the position of Margrave just made him an advisor to the late prince. Plus somehow the CEO of Dynamis had found out what was happening to her and when she would be she even had arrived to talk to HR yesterday about what was happening, she had been called up to a meeting where she was told she had been transfered to being the direct manager to their assets in Area 11, even though she was only 20.

According to Mr. Dynamis the past manager had been closely affiliated with Prince Clovis' administration and with how much corruption was currently being exposed by both Cornelia's operations and that Zero person his reputation would be tainted by association even if it was proven the man hadn't done anything. Therefore she had spent almost all her time since that meeting familiarizing herself with the company holdings in Area 11, as well as trying to figure out who the key people in both the old and new administration are.

And while the normality of still working for the same company helped…

There was so much that she just didn't know. Everything was just so new, a new position, new responsibilities, new home, new people, how to deal with nobles, and she had no idea what she would do if she had to meet the Princess…

Taking a calming breath she closed her eyes and tried to let all the anxiety drain away. She was getting to worked up, as usual. Besides she would have help when she got there, her brother had sent one last email this morning. It had said he wouldn't be able to see her but that he knew a few people that could make sure everything was ok. Though he had said they could not admit to anything and that they would have to introduce themselves carefully so as to not draw any suspicion. She couldn't help but wonder what these people would be like, it might be too much to ask but she couldn't help but hope that at least one would be near her age rather than as old as her brother.

****G's G****

Suzaku walked up to the clubhouse after having returned to the base to get changed and to check one last time with Cécile if he could leave for dinner. He was really glad that he was going to be eating diner with Lelouch and Nunnally tonight. When he had asked permission yesterday, he had decided to forgo asking Lloyd and just tell Cècile that he had been invited over to have dinner with one of the boy's he had meet at school. She had been rather pleased, telling him to go and insisted she'll help make sure he made a good impression by getting some clothes set aside for him.

She was so happy for him that he let her do what she wanted. During this, Lloyd had come up behind him, almost giving him a heart attack with how quiet he was, and said, "You at least seem to have grasped the second most important lesson to surviving around here Suzaku."

The apprehensive look the scientist had given Cècile before he walked off had made him rather annoyed at the man. Nothing more had been said on the matter though.

Now here he was. He smiled tightly at the Japanese maid that held the door to the clubhouse open for him as she greeted him, "Suzaku Kururugi, Master Lelouch asked me to escort you to the kitchen so he can bring you to his sister personally."

As glad as he was to be here he couldn't help but frown at the idea that Lelouch had a Japanese servant calling him master; yeah Lelouch was a Prince but really, that was over the top. Smiling kindly at her as he followed her up some stairs and down a hallway, "You know I think he tried to get me to address him like that once…"

She smiled indulgently at him while pushing a door open, "Master Lelouch was a rather headstrong child I will admit. This way into the Lamperouge wing."

He raised an eyebrow in silent question, though no response came from the maid in front of him as they walked in. Instead he was greeted by the girl Lelouch had been carrying in Shinjuku, "With the Ashford family taking in Lelouch and Nunnally and helping them join the school to keep them safely hidden some things needed to be done, and because of Nunnally's handicap dorm life would be too difficult for her so they live here instead."

He could only blink at the girl in front of him trying to formulate a reply when she tilted her head to the side with a frown and chastised him, "You know, it's impolite to stare at a lady like that."

He was only more confused as the girl calmly floated down the hallway hitting the first door on the left as she passed it. Only moments later Lelouch stuck his head out of the door and smiled at them, "Well come on Suzaku, I'm almost finished so get in here and we can bring dinner down to the dining room. I know Nunnally has been waiting for you to show up since I told her you would be here yesterday."

The maid just nodded him towards the door, "Master Lelouch said he needed your help with something in the kitchen, I will go make sure everything is ready in the dining room."

He heard Lelouch yell from inside the kitchen, in a much more childlike voice then he could ever remember hearing from his old friend, "Master Lelouch has asked you to stop calling him that Sayoko."

The maid, Sayoko, just smiled as she made her way down the hall. Pushing open the door he was greeted by a wondrous smell. There was no way he could believe that Lelouch could cook like this. Lelouch's voice cut through his food fogged mind though, "Grab the steamed vegetables Suzaku, along with the bread. I'll get the chicken. I just need to finish setting this up for dessert."

Before he could stop himself he asked, "What is all this?"

Lelouch didn't even turn around to reply as he continued doing whatever it was he was doing, "There is lightly grilled vegetables, a nice fresh loaf of raisin bread, the chicken is served in a thin white wine sauce, and this will be our dessert. I am making a nice Victorian style sponge cake."

As Lelouch picked up the platter with the chicken on it and started walking out the door, "Well come on Suzaku, it doesn't do to keep a princess waiting."

He chuckled, "It's nice to see you too Lelouch."

He couldn't see it but he knew Lelouch had rolled his eyes at that, "I saw you yesterday at school and today as well, and with any luck I will continue to see my friend everyday except most weekends. Now come on you're the muscles remember? You need to grab two plates to my one to keep that title you know."

As Lelouch almost pushed him into the dining room he was shocked at the number of people present, Nunnally, the girl, Sayoko, Miss Ashford, and the young boy he had seen around Lelouch. Grinning as he walked in Lelouch smiled indulgently, "I have a present for you Nunnally, can you guess what I got you?"

He wanted to feel indignant at that, but at Nunnally's reply he realized that this was all scripted. He could not help but think it was all so he would feel welcome, "Is it an old friend Big Brother?"

He carefully set the plates on the table without a sound as he made his way over and wrapped Nunnally in a hug, "Yes Nunna, yes it is."

She wrapped her arms around him and he could faintly hear her say, "I'm so glad you're here Suzaku, brother Lelouch and I missed you dearly."

He couldn't help it as a tear formed in his eye, while he held Nunnally. Not just at seeing his old friends again, but how he futilely wished that a young raven haired girl was here as well just like she had been seven years ago.

****G's G****

Nunnally smiled in her wheelchair. Everyone had been so happy while they ate dinner. She couldn't help it that she had spaced out a few time, imagining what everyone's expressions were like.

Suzaku had cried when he arrived, so she figured his eyes would be a little red rimmed. He was really tough though, and she could hear him chatting with Lelouch happily about his job and his bosses Miss Cècile and Earl Asplund. She had wanted to tell him that he could bring them over, but brother Lelouch had explained at the beginning of the meal that while Suzaku could visit any time for dinner, as brother was sure it was better than anything served on base, there would be problems bringing others with their identities being kept secret.

She had been initially shocked when brother Lelouch had said that, but as it was explained that everyone present knew about who brother and her were she was really happy. She never really had anyone she could talk to about this before, other then brother and Milly. She had pouted at Lady C.C. when it came out that the girl knew who they were though. If she had known she would have had a lot more fun during their lunch yesterday. She thought it could have been like when she used to have tea with Euphie, not just girl time tea and talk.

C.C. was sitting next to her on her right while She was talking to Sayoko and Milly. The three of them had been talking to each other and her all of dinner. She liked how nicely Lady C.C. acted towards Sayoko, as even most of the people on the student council, while they were not mean to Sayoko, they mostly just ignored her. It really made her happy how nice of a girl brother Lelouch had found.

Milly was on the other side of her. She definitely had the 'loud Milly smile' on her face as she had spent most of the dinner talking to C.C., Sayoko and her, teasing the boys especially Brother Lelouch, and she was… well Milly was acting tense and for the life of her she had no idea why. So she had decided to ignore it as she was not going to let anything ruin her good mood.

Rolo was on the other side of the table from her and she really wished he was closer. She knew nothing about the boy personally, only what she had heard from C.C. and her big brother, and wanted to talk to him herself. Worse yet she thought bitterly, pouting at him seemed to do nothing at all, and that was all she really could do. She could tell he was kind of a withdrawn boy, so she figured that he had a somewhat frightened look to match his nervous responses to questions.

Brother Lelouch though was alternating between talking to everyone at the table and during his brief moments of quiet making moon eyes at Lady C.C.. She remembered the talk they had had the other night night after she had found out Lady C.C. and him slept together and he had seen her naked. Brother Lelouch had come to tuck her in and she had demanded he stay and explain himself. He had been greatly confused at first, but then began sputtering denials. At this point she had figured out that Lady C.C. was not actually having sex with big brother and Lady C.C. had only let her think that to tease brother Lelouch. She had giggled in her head at the realization and decided to play along just to see her brother squirm.

She had given him a thirty minute speech about how she was to have a sister-in-law before she had a niece or a nephew. She had ended the speech by saying that she was not adverse to both of those situations happening soon if he really wanted them to. He had fled her room rather quickly after that, though Lady C.C. had shown up to tell her she did a great job and kissed her forehead goodnight. It had been an amazing thing but she couldn't help but feel that Lady C.C. was trying too hard.

"Nunnally, Lelouch is about to go get the dessert, are you going to finish everything or would you just like dessert?"

She smiled at Lady C.C., "I'll finish everything, brother Lelouch said he made sponge cake. His sponge cake is always delicious."

Turning her attention back to her food, she felt like brother Lelouch's sponge cake was not going to taste as good as usual today, even with how happy she was with Suzaku being here.

****G's G****

Rolo stared at the layout he was trying to make. This program was just so frustrating, it was far too complicated for what he needed it to do.

Big brother had given him this task so they could plan out how he could help big brother, but it was just so hard. It was difficult enough trying to remember what the layout for each OSI outposts in Japan was like and where they were located, but also trying to remember which were in place before the rebellion and to weed out those which only were created after.

Then he had to use this damned program to draw up a layout so that big brother and him could figure out how to safely infiltrate each outpost in the Tokyo area so that big brother could Geass them.

Frowning as he could not remember if it was a small armory or a bathroom behind one of the door in the base near Mt. Fuji he slammed his computer close and flopped on his bed.

Tonight was not the night for this, he was already to annoyed with that aggravating dinner earlier.

****G's G****

Sayoko smiled down at Nunnally as she tucked her in. While Master Lelouch had wanted to tuck her in seeing as he had been gone yesterday, Nunnally had insisted that he stay out and enjoy talking to Mistress Milly and Suzaku as she was going to bed early tonight. Something she had teased her brother about, saying he should try it sometimes as it would help his school attendance.

She was shocked though when, with rather good accuracy for a blind person, young Nunnally grabbed her wrist and 'would not let go'. Not that she would have any trouble breaking out of the awkward hold the girl had on her wrist but this was Nunnally and she was curious as to what brought this on. She however had not expected what she would hear when young Nunnally spoke, "What is Brother Lelouch hiding from me Miss Sayoko?"

It was the commanding way Nunnally that said it that gave her pause, it was a command like Lelouch would give when he was younger and head strong. It was not however something she would have expected from young Nunnally, as while she knew the young girl was far more resilient than Lelouch gave her credit for she was still little Nunnally who clung to her brother at every chance she got…

"Whatever do you mean Mistress Nunnally?'

There was a deeply pronounced frown on her face as Nunnally spoke, "What has big brother been doing at night? I know he is not still checking on our emergency escape plans and he was not checking out his investments yesterday night. I know he has never personally met with anyone involved with the companies he has invested in. Milly and you explained to me about how his investments worked years ago because I was worried he would get hurt as he wouldn't tell me what he was doing."

She did vaguely remember that, though the discussion had to have been at least four to five years ago. She could only see one course of action here, as while she would never reveal Master Lelouch's secret, she could not ignore the young Mistress's plight. Moving to sit down on the bed she shifted herself slightly as the young girl seemed adamant about holding on to her wrist, "Have you thought about talking to your brother about this?"

"If he is trying to keep it from me he's not going to tell me. He is even lying to me. I..."

There had been a tremble in the young girl's voice at the end that sounded off, "I can not tell you what to do Nunnally, but this is something you need to talk to your brother about. Tell him what you know, and how you know it."

"But he's just going to tell me not to worry, that he will handle it. And… And he will handle it, and I will just be a distraction in his way, because… because I can't do anything. I can only sit there as everyone does everything for me. "

She pulled the younger girl into a hug as Nunnally suppressed a sob, rubbing the girl's back to soother her like when she was younger. As her hand slipped out of the younger girl's grasp she shifted into a more comfortable position as she realised that this was going to take a while. As she started to think of what to say she decided that no matter how this talk went she was going to figure out how to teach Nunnally a little bit of self defence; there was no way she was going to let that incorrect hold go after she had seen the young mistress use it.

****G's G****

This was disturbing news. Glancing over the report again, there was an increase in military activity in Russia, some of the OSI agents going dark and now confirmation that the Duke that young Rolo was suppose to kill was still alive without any word coming from Rolo for a few weeks now. He didn't like this, it stank of the mediocre mess ups he had had to deal with before he made Rolo.

It was a pain that he could no longer track the people he gave geass to through their link but he had made far too many pawns for him to be able to feel any of them but his brother. He always knew where his brother was, he assumed it was just because that bond was so old and so important. It was a pity that C.C. seem to only give geass sparingly and had flat out refused to give geass to people to make the geass directorate into a geass using army. William had been just as annoying when the old man had given him his geass as a child. The old fool had gone on and on about his potential but had been to afraid to take the steps to accomplish anything in his thousands of years of life compared to that he had in just a few dozen.


End file.
